


Carmilla: Civil War

by TheSnarkyDruid



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-02 11:47:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 75
Words: 152,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4058836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSnarkyDruid/pseuds/TheSnarkyDruid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of last semester, the secret organization now running Silas decides to step in and create harsh new rules for the supernatural students, blaming them for past tragedies. With two sides now created, humans and supernaturals, tensions are running high and things are about to burst at the seems. To make matters worse, Laura is missing, at a time when they might need her the most. With fights and protests breaking out all across campus, a new Dean ready to rule with an iron fist, and her girlfriend inexplicably missing, Carmilla is thrust into a leadership position she isn't sure she wants or is ready for. </p>
<p>This story continues where my previous one left off, beginning at the start of the fall semester, although it is written a bit different than the last one. No more video blog style. If you read my previous story, some things might make more sense, but I think it's possible to read this one without having read the other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Day Back

Carmilla enters a pitch black room in the wee hours of Monday morning, slinking into the room as quietly as possible. Her dark clothes and hair meld perfectly with the shadows as she prowls towards Laura’s side of the room, moving softly and slowly. There is a smile on her lips as she thinks of sliding into bed with her lover.  
They had spent the last week apart as Laura had wanted some quality time with her father before heading back to school. And although Carmilla had missed Laura fiercely every night they were apart, she understood and had kept her distance. But finally they were back together and Carmilla could curl into Laura’s warm side, listening to her soft, contented sounds as she slept.   
As Carmilla approaches Laura’s bed she realizes something feels off. She pauses in her approach, listening for something. She doesn’t hear anything. Which is precisely the problem. There is no contented sighing, no quiet slow breathing, no shifting and creaking of the bed as Laura moves. Not even a heartbeat.   
Carmilla rushes forward towards the bed, now afraid. When she gets there she finds the bed to be empty. Not just empty though. The bed isn’t even made. There are no blankets, sheets, or yellow pillow adorning it. Carmilla stares at the empty bed completely confused for a moment, blinking twice before she manages to reach out and touch the bed. She’s hesitant as if she expects it to burn to touch it, but of course it doesn’t. It’s just a bed. But an empty bed, with no sign that Laura had ever been there.  
A thought then occurs to Carmilla and she begins to look around the room. Her heart sinks as she goes through the wardrobe, the dresser, and even worse, the fridge. Nothing, she finds nothing. There are no bags, no clothes, no books, no odds and ends, and no cookies or grape soda. She grows more desperate with each passing minute, but finds no indication that Laura had ever been in this room. After a few more minutes of searching she eventually gives up and flops down onto Laura’s empty bed as she puts her head in her hands.  
“Think, think, think.” Carmilla says to herself and then sits up and pulls out her phone. She sends a quick text.  
C: Where are you?  
C: Are you alright?  
There is no response and Carmilla stares at her phone for a good five minutes before she sends out another text.  
C: Cupcake?  
C: Laura?  
C: Laura, I’m getting really worried.  
There is still no response and Carmilla waits only a few minutes more before she decides to call her. The phone rings once before there is a clicking noise, three tones, and then a robotic female voice answers with, “The number you have called has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, please check the number and try your call again.”  
Carmilla feels her heart plummet into her stomach, a sense of dread washing over her. She looks at the number she dialed to make sure it’s right and even though it is, she calls again. She gets the same message. After four more desperate attempts, she puts her phone away and puts her head back into her hands trying to think.  
For a moment she wonders if she’s in the right room, although that doesn’t explain why Laura’s phone isn’t working. At least if she was in the wrong room that would explain half her problem and perhaps if Laura was in right one she could explain to her why her phone wasn’t working. Carmilla gets up and heads to the door. She opens it up to go and check the number, when a note wedged in between the door and the frame flutters out and spirals down to the floor.  
Carmilla bends over it confused and shuts the door. She then grows hopeful, thinking maybe Laura has left her some kind of explanation as to what is going on. But upon looking at the note she finds an official school seal stamped on it and large, bold print.  
She quickly begins to read the note:

In accordance with the new Dean, the new Supernatural Registration Act, and the new Supernatural Code of Conduct implemented as of August 15th, 2015, the newly formed Council of Human Rights and Justice calls the vampire Carmilla Karnstein before the Council in order to defend her actions against the human population of this campus. The hearing is set on September 8th, 2015 at 8:00 a.m. Failure to appear will be considered an act of hostility and will result in immediate expulsion and imprisonment.   
Have a wonderful semester. 

Sincerely,   
The Council for Human Rights and Justice and the Dean of Silas University

Carmilla blinks a few times after reading the note and then shakes her head, “What the fuck?”


	2. Misunderstanding

Carmilla reads the note three more times, but it doesn’t seem to make it any clearer. She’s about to read through it a fourth time when she hears a knock on the door. She wrenches it open quickly, almost a little too forcefully, expecting Laura to be standing on the other side, bags in hand, looking distraught at being so late.  
Instead she finds LaFontaine and Perry on the other side. They all stare at each other a bit startled and then Carmilla frowns.  
“What do you want?” Carmilla snaps.  
“Nice to see you too Karnstein.” LaFontaine replies and then attempts to look around her to spot Laura. When they don’t see her they frown in confusion.  
Carmilla sighs and says, “Fine. Welcome back to this hell hole, it is so lovely to see you both at this  
time of night.” she then adds, “What are you doing here so late?”  
“We wanted to talk to you guys about this.” LaFontaine replies, holding up a note similar to the one in Carmilla’s hand, “And we figured you’d be in by now.”  
“I am…Laura’s not.” Carmilla says and sees both LaFontaine and Perry react with surprise. Carmilla’s frown deepens as a part of her had hoped they might know where Laura was.  
“What do you mean Laura’s not?” Perry asks from behind LaFontaine her voice a mixture of confusion and worry, “She was supposed to come in today at the latest.”  
Carmilla sighs, “She isn’t here.”  
“Maybe she’s out?” LaFontaine suggests, though they don’t sound too sure.  
Carmilla shakes her head and opens the door further and steps aside so they can peer into the room.  
“None of her stuff is here.” Carmilla replies and though she’s trying to act calm, both LaFontaine and Perry can hear the worry in her voice.  
“That’s…strange.” LaFontaine says and then steps into the room and begins to look around. Perry steps in as well, but turns to Carmilla. She places a comforting hand on Carmilla’s shoulder and although Carmilla looks at it disdainfully, Perry feels Carmilla relax some at the gesture.  
“I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding of some sort.” Perry tells Carmilla trying to reassure her, “Have you tried calling her?”   
Carmilla nods, “Her number has been disconnected.”  
LaFontaine looks back from where they were looking at Laura’s side of the room, “What do you mean disconnected?”  
Carmilla scowls and looks at them, “What do you think it means? I called and got a machine. Her number is no longer in service. Disconnected, removed, turned off, etc., etc.”  
LaFontaine frowns and then whips out their phone, calling Laura’s number.  
“What, do you not believe me?” Carmilla asks annoyed.  
LaFontaine waves her off and listens as they get the same message. Laura’s phone is no longer in service. LaFontaine shakes their head, looking even more concerned now.  
“Great, now that we’ve wasted that time, what do you think it means?” Carmilla asks LaFontaine and although she sounds agitated, LaFontaine can hear a pleading edge to her voice. LaFontaine looks into Carmilla’s eyes and truly sees how afraid she is. For all the world they wish they could say something comforting, say something that will make Carmilla feel better, assure her that everything will be alright, but that has never been their strong suit and on top of that, they aren’t so sure everything will be alright.   
However, if there is one thing they’re been good at its being honest, sometimes brutally so.  
“I don’t know what it means. But I don’t like it.” LaFontaine admits and Carmilla nods in agreement.  
“I’m…I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding.” Perry repeats, the tension rising in her voice, “Perhaps Laura just got delayed somehow and perhaps she got a new phone or something. You know how klutzy she can be. Perhaps she broke her old one. I’m sure she’s on her way here now, kicking herself because she can’t let us know she’s alright. She’ll probably come through that door any minute and start rambling uncontrollably as she apologizes to us profusely about causing us to worry.”   
They all turn to look at the door, but Laura doesn’t step through it.   
“Any minute now.” Perry says as she begins to fidget nervously.  
“Perr….” LaFontaine begins and steps closer to Perry, placing on hand on her shoulder. Perry gives them a stricken look and LaFontaine doesn’t have the heart to tell her that Laura may not be fine, instead they say, “You’re probably right Perr, it’s probably just a misunderstanding.” They turn to Carmilla and say, “Right Carmilla?”  
Carmilla frowns, but nods, “I really hope so.”


	3. Unanswered Questions

There is a long and uncomfortable silence and then Carmilla sighs, “As much as I would like to sprint through this campus from end to end, search every nook and cranny, and knock or kick down every door to find her, I have a feeling it would be pointless.”  
“You don’t think she’s here?” LaFontaine asks.   
Carmilla shrugs, “I have no idea, but I will find her. But I doubt it’ll be tonight. So why don’t we talk about why you’re here.” She gestures to the card in LaFontaine’s hand.  
LaFontaine nods and holds it up, spotting the matching one in Carmilla’s hand, “I see you got one too.”  
Carmilla nods, “I have no idea what it means, besides the fact that I have some hearing with some council on the 8th of September.”  
LaFontaine looks surprised and then says, “Oh wow, yours is early. Perry’s isn’t until November.”  
Carmilla now looks surprised, “Perry’s?” and LaFontaine nods, so Carmilla continues, “Not yours?”  
“Why would you think it was mine?” LaFontaine asks sounding slightly offended.  
“You light things on fire.” Carmilla says, “All the time. If anyone is to be called before a council of uptight school officials it’d probably be you.”  
LaFontaine looks like they’re about to object and then stop, shrug, and nod, “Alright, you have a point. But this has nothing to do with my extracurricular activities. The tone of this note and the campus newsletter that went out suggests that they are targeting supernatural students.”  
“And you’re human.” Carmilla says and then points to Perry, “And she’s not.” It’s not stated as a question, just a statement of fact. Both Perry and LaFontaine look at her a bit surprised.   
“You knew?” LaFontaine asks.  
Carmilla shrugs, “Sure. I can sense supernatural creatures.”  
“But…but not all of them. Not all the time you said. You didn’t sense Gwen right away.” Perry says, “I just thought that you couldn’t sense me either. But you knew all along? And you didn’t say anything?”  
Carmilla shrugs again, “I honestly just didn’t care.”  
“But…but you got so angry at Gwen when you found out she was a werewolf.” Perry says nervously.  
“That’s because Gwen gets on my nerves, plus I thought she was a murderer.” Carmilla says, “Big difference. Otherwise, what you are and what you do in your spare time is none of my business.”  
Perry seems to relax visibly, though she looks lost in thought, like she’s trying to wrap her head around the fact that someone else knew all along.  
Her eyes widen and she then asks, “Does Laura know?”  
Carmilla gives Perry a smirk and shakes her head, “No, I never told Laura. I figured you would when you were ready.”  
Perry relaxes again and nods her head slowly, though she’s still fidgeting.  
Carmilla turns back to LaFontaine, “So you think they’re targeting supernatural students? Do you know what the Supernatural Registration Act or Code of Conduct is?” She points to the card in her hand.  
LaFontaine shakes their head, “No, there is no explanation of it anywhere. It’s mentioned only on these cards and the newsletter that went out two months ago.”  
“This newsletter, did it say anything else?” Carmilla asks.  
“Just that there would be some changes to the rules and organization of this campus. They mention those two things and the Council of Human Rights and Justice, whatever that is. They also talk about hiring mediators or something.” LaFontaine says.  
“Mediators? Like lawyers?” Carmilla asks.  
“I have no idea.” LaFontaine replies, “It just said the mediators would help things go more smoothly on campus. That’s all. Oh, plus we have a new Dean.”  
“I know we have a new Dean.” Carmilla says.  
“No, I mean a new, new Dean.” LaFontaine tells her, “The old one is on a continued leave of absence. Though I heard he went a bit cuckoo for cocoa puffs after the whole demonic bug possession incident and they forced him to resign.”  
“LaFontaine.” Perry scolds, “We shouldn’t spread rumors.”  
“Hey, it’s what I heard.” LaFontaine says with a shrug.  
“So no more creepy sunglasses guy.” Carmilla says with a thoughtful frown, “Anyone lay eyes on this new Dean?”  
They both shake their head.  
“So we have no idea what we’re dealing with here.” Carmilla says and they both shake their heads again, “Well this is bullshit.”


	4. Stuck

Carmilla begins to walk towards the door, but LaFontaine stops her, “What are you doing?”  
“I’m leaving.” Carmilla says, “I’m going to find Laura and then I’m out of here. I’m not dealing with this crap. If they want to expel me or whatever, fine, I don’t care. I’ve been at this school longer than either of you have been alive. I don’t need another degree.”  
“You can’t just leave though.” LaFontaine says, looking a little panicked.  
“And why not?” Carmilla asks, a dangerous edge coming into her voice.  
“Did you not read this note?” LaFontaine says holding it up to her, “It says expulsion and imprisonment.”  
Carmilla pauses, thinking, “So you think they won’t actually let me leave.”  
“I think that they think you’re too dangerous to let go.” LaFontaine replies, “Whoever this is.”  
Carmilla lets out a dark laugh, “Well, I’d like to see them try and stop me.” She begins to teleport away, the dark smoke surrounding her. She disappears into it until there is nothing left and the smoke slowly fades away.  
“Well I guess we’re…” LaFontaine begins, but is interrupted by the reappearance of the black smoke. There is a soft puffing noise and then Carmilla appears looking a bit dazed.  
“Hi….” LaFontaine says looking at Carmilla as Carmilla looks at the two of them confused.  
“What just happened?” Carmilla asks.  
“I was just going to ask you the same thing.” LaFontaine says.  
“You disappeared for a moment and then came back.” Perry says, “Did you come back to help us?”  
Carmilla looks at her like she’s crazy and then says, “No. I didn’t mean to come back. That was weird.” Before either can say anything else she disappears in a puff of smoke again, only to reappear seconds later. She looks slightly nauseous now and shakes her head as if to clear it.  
“I’m assuming that wasn’t intentional either.” LaFontaine says.  
Carmilla scowls and then snaps out, “No!”  
“So you can’t leave?” Perry asks.  
“It doesn’t seem like it now does it.” Carmilla replies annoyed, “At least not by teleportation.”   
“Huh, I wonder how they’re stopping you.” LaFontaine muses and gets a sharp look from Carmilla. When Carmilla doesn’t make a move towards the door, LaFontaine looks over at her, “Aren’t you leaving?”  
“I just tried to numbskull. Didn’t you see how well that worked?” Carmilla says, “And you’re supposed to be the smart one.”  
Ignoring the last comment LaFontaine continues, “What I meant was, I’m surprised you haven’t just bolted out the door by now.”  
“Oh.” Carmilla says, “Well…” She hesitates, “I can’t leave now.”  
“Sure you can, there are other ways to get off campus besides turning into smoke.” LaFontaine says.  
Carmilla frowns and says, “What I meant was, I can’t leave now because…there is something going on here.”  
A knowing smile creeps onto LaFontaine’s face, “You’re saying it wouldn’t be right to leave now?”  
Carmilla’s frown deepens even further, “No, but now they’ve angered me enough to make me want to stay.” Showing false outrage.  
LaFontaine’s smile doesn’t leave their face, “Uh huh, this has nothing to do with right or wrong or protecting us or the campus or anything like that, this all has to do with who pissed you off, right.” The disbelieving tone in their voice and their smirk makes Carmilla want to smack them.  
“I’m slowly beginning to feel like I should have let you die.” Carmilla replies.   
“You only threaten because you care.” LaFontaine says.  
Carmilla groans and says, “I’ve been spending too much time around Laura.”  
LaFontaine laughs and holds up the note, “Can you imagine what she’d say if she saw this.”  
“She’d have a fit.” Carmilla says.  
“She’d probably march down to the Dean’s office and give him a piece of her mind.” LaFontaine says.  
“Probably get herself expelled in the process.” Carmilla laughs and then stops abruptly. Everyone in the room goes silent.


	5. Alone

They all stare at each other, not wanting to speak for fear of what they might say.  
Finally, Carmilla speaks, “You don’t think…”   
“I mean, it would explain why she wasn’t here.” Perry says.  
“But not why her phone isn’t working. If she was just expelled, her phone would still work, right?” LaFontaine asks, “Unless…Laura isn’t a supernatural creature is she?”  
Carmilla shakes her head and then hesitates, “No…I don’t think so…not that she’s told me.” She sounds more unsure than she meant to and the other two look at her concerned.  
“I’m sure it’s not that honey.” Perry says.  
Carmilla doesn’t seem to hear her as she puts her hand to her head and begins to run her fingers through her hair nervously, “Oh god, what if she was expelled? What if they have her? I can’t let them take her. I can’t let them hurt her.” Carmilla looks up and while the look on her face isn’t threatening or intimidating, there is something in her eyes that sends a shiver up both their spines. She takes a step and both LaFontaine and Perry know that if they let her leave this room, she’s going to sprint right to the Dean’s off, smash open his door, and beat him until she gets dragged away and at best imprisoned. They block her path and she looks at them annoyed.  
“Move.” Carmilla says firmly.  
“Carmilla, we don’t know that Laura was expelled or captured or anything of the sort.” Perry says, “And it would not be a good idea to do anything that would draw anyone’s attention right at this moment.”  
“Yeah, it’s all just speculation. Besides, if we do want to mount a rescue, we’re going to need more information and not have you lying on some lab table or dead in the ground, you know?” LaFontaine says.  
Carmilla hesitates and then nods, “Fine. What do we do now?”  
“Now? Now we need to sleep.” LaFontaine says and Perry nods, “You…well you should probably get some rest too. I have a feeling this semester is going to be another fun time right from the start. But we’ll meet up tomorrow and discuss what to do in more detail then.” Carmilla nods in agreement.  
After LaFontaine and Perry leave, Carmilla is once again alone. She looks around the dark and empty room and feels more alone than she’s felt in a very long time. Normally the place would be filled with brightly colored decorations, the smell of chocolate chip cookies, and Laura’s excited and nervous chatter. Normally Laura would fill up this space with her presence, with her bright eyes, sunny hair, and most of all her warm smile. She would fill it with crumbs on the carpet and the clacking sound of fingers on keys. She would fill it with her bubbling energy and nervous ticks. She would fill it with her flushed cheeks and a soft, full laugh. The room would shine and glow with the brightness of her, seeming an overall nicer and happier place because of her existence. That’s how this room should be. It should be warm, and cozy, and happy, and it should feel like home because Laura was there and anywhere Laura was, was home to Carmilla.  
But instead the place felt empty, but more than empty, more than just unfilled with Laura’s things. It felt like there was a hole where Laura should be. The place felt hollow. Hollow and dark and gloomy, and a deep, bitter loneliness crept into Carmilla as she stood there by herself in that room.   
Carmilla stands there, staring at Laura’s side of the room for far too long before she decides the ginger twins had been right, she should get some rest. She takes a step towards Laura’s bed and then turns around and lies down on hers instead. She doesn’t have any blankets or pillows or sheets. She hadn’t thought to bring them, because she had thought Laura would be here. She was going to sneak into the room and cuddle up with Laura and then pick up her things tomorrow. But that obviously didn’t happen and now she was left with none of the things that made sleep all the more pleasant, the most important one being her girlfriend.   
She curls up into a ball on her bed and feels a single tear wells up behind her eyes. She pushes it back because she is resolute in her opinion that vampire’s don’t cry, at least not often. Instead she lets out a deep and shuddering breath, which she doesn’t need, and then whispers into the night, “Laura, where are you?”


	6. Rude Awakening

Carmilla couldn’t have been asleep for more than a few hours when she hears a loud and forceful banging on her door. She opens her eyes and blinks a few times confused, staring at the sunlight streaming in through the window and wondering why she was awake so early in the day. For a brief, shining moment hope wells up in her chest and she thinks it may be Laura at the door, who has lost her key and is desperately trying to wake her and get in.   
This illusion is shattered moments later as she hears the forceful banging once more and a deep, gruff masculine voice on the other side shouts, “Get up! Get up now!”  
Carmilla’s mood dips dangerously into murderous as she practically stomps over to the door and has to stop herself from ripping the door off its hinges. Instead she yanks it open with just enough force to startle the man or in this case the men on the other side. When she opens the doors she finds three men, dressed in gray uniforms and heavily armed standing on the other side of her door.  
Before any of them can speak she speaks, and it’s low and dangerous sounding, like the low rumble in the chest of a beast about to growl, “If you don’t leave here in the next five seconds, I am going to kill you.”  
She’s pleased to see them all take an unconscious step backward from her, but she is disappointed they don’t flee from her. Instead, they stand their ground, and the one in front, after the initial shock, looks more angry than afraid.  
“Carmilla Karnstein?” The one in front asks, she looks at him disdainfully, not answering his question and begins to shut her door. Surprisingly, the one in front, who she now sees has a nametag, A. Russo, steps forward and slams his hand against the door, stopping her. Well, not really stopping her, but startling her enough for her to stop closing the door. Carmilla can’t decide whether this man is stupid or brave, but she decides she doesn’t have the patience for either.  
“I would take my hand off that door if I were you.” Carmilla hisses out.  
Russo ignores her threat and instead says, “You will come with us now for registration.” There is a steely edge to his voice that surprises Carmilla. Carmilla looks up into his eyes and realizes how young he looks. She looks to the other two and finds them to be fairly young as well, which surprises her. They’re young enough to be students.  
“Registration?” Carmilla asks, “Is that what all this is about? I know how to register for classes, I don’t need your help with that. Thanks, but no thanks.” She goes to close the door again, but this time Russo wedges his entire body in between the door and the frame.  
Carmilla sneers and says, “You are on very thin ice.”  
Russo doesn’t seem perturbed by this and instead sneers back, he also reaches for something on his belt, “I have wanted to use this on you since you opened that door and now you’re giving me the perfect opportunity to.” Carmilla looks down at his belt, but isn’t sure what he’s reaching for.   
Carmilla then realizes no amount of intimidation is going to get these lack wits to leave her alone. That only leaves her with two options, fight her way out of this situation or relent. And as much as the thoughts of all the things she could do to them delights her, she knows that if she’s to find Laura and figure out what is going on, on this campus, she has to not end up imprisoned or worse.  
She lets out a small sigh and then opens the door more again, “Fine.” She says, “Where are you taking me?”  
“Are you questioning me?” Russo asks aggressively, still reaching for whatever it is on his belt. His voice is filled with anger and his sudden ferocity startles Carmilla. She figured with her cooperation, that they might not be pleasant, but at least less antagonistic. Not more so.  
However, the one behind Russo to his right, H. Steiner, places a hand on Russo’s arm and says, “Come on Tony, relax. She’s just asking a question. There’s no harm in that.” Russo visibly calms, but his eyes are still filled with pure hatred towards her.   
Russo grabs her arm and she yanks it out of his grasp easily. The fire sparks in his eyes again, but instead of going at her again, he turns on his heel quickly and marches away at a brisk pace. Carmilla shuts her door behind her and follows quickly, with Steiner and the other one, R. Nunes, following close behind.  
“We’re taking you to the administration offices.” Steiner says, answering her previous question.  
“Why?” She asks.  
“For registration.” Steiner tells her and although he seems more willing to answer her questions than the other two, she gets the impression that’s the end of that conversation. As they approach the front doors of the dorm she hesitates when she sees the sunlight shining through. Contrary to popular belief, she won’t burst into flames if she steps out into sunlight. That was one of those long standing myths that she laughed at when she saw it. However, direct sunlight did sting quite a bit and while it wouldn’t leave any permanent damage, it could be very painful.   
Russo doesn’t seem to notice her hesitation or doesn’t care as he marches straight through the doors and outside. She’s about to say that she has to go back to her room to grab an umbrella when she feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns and is surprised to see Steiner holding a black umbrella out for her.  
“It’s a rather sunny day.” He comments and Carmilla can’t help, but feel somewhat grateful, even though they’re the ones putting her in this position in the first place. This also answers some of her other questions, like how much they knew about her. They at least know she’s a vampire, that’s for sure.  
Carmilla steps out into the daylight and gets her first glimpse of a new and changed campus.


	7. Mediators

The walk to the administration offices is truly an educational experience for Carmilla. It shows her how much has changed in the three months that she has been gone for the summer. There’s a whole different atmosphere, a whole different feeling to the place. While before there was a chaotic nature to how the school functioned, a sort of frenzied, hectic vibe that made it seem like anything and everything could happen at any time, this was no longer present.   
That feeling was gone, but with it did not come calmness or normalcy. Instead a new energy took its place, a tension in the air. While before, the school’s chaotic energy felt like a swirling storm overhead, this felt more like a coiled spring or perhaps more accurately, a viper hidden in tall grass, waiting to strike. At least with the storm you knew you were in danger, you may not know where lightening would strike next, but you could at least get out of the rain. Or if you happen to be Laura’s girlfriend, you’d end up running out in the open with a lightning rod hoping to subdue the very forces of nature.   
The thought of Laura sent a pang of longing and worry through Carmilla. On top of this new found energy of the school, Laura was still missing. A part of Carmilla had hoped that it had all been a terrible dream and that’d she would wake up the next day and find herself curled against Laura’s side. Or that perhaps Laura would come in late in the night. But that didn’t happen and Carmilla had been awoken rather rudely by her escort to find herself in an empty bed, looking across the room at an even emptier bed.   
The change that Carmilla felt was hard to spot; there wasn’t a huge difference visually. But she felt more eyes on her as she walked with her escort and most of those eyes weren’t particularly friendly.  
As they continued to make their way towards the administration offices Carmilla noticed more people dressed in the same gray uniforms as her escorts marching about, almost always in groups, never less than two, and some as large as twenty. They were a mixture of both girls and guys, small and large, though all in excellent shape, they all seemed very young, and they all were heavily armed. As Carmilla passed the only thing she got were hard, steely gazes and a few looks of disgust.   
This was a bit startling for her because most of the time she managed to fly under the radar. Sure she drew the attention of interested girls and guys, but she had always been careful, always had been cautious and discrete about her presence on campus, her supernatural nature, and her activities with her mother. That is until Laura and the dimwit squad had caught her. And now, after another semester of rescuing the campus in a rather public display of her abilities and her true nature, it seemed word had spread. In short, people not only knew who she was, but what she was, and that was new for her.   
“What’s with all the goons?” Carmilla couldn’t stop herself from asking and got a reproachful look from Russo. She also noticed that his right hand twitched as if he were stopping himself from reaching for something on his belt. Steiner looked amused and Nunes stayed stony-faced, not showing any hint of emotion or even caring about what was going on around him.   
Steiner laughed at her comment, but when she gave him a confused look he looked surprised.  
“Oh, you’re serious?” Steiner asks, now confused himself, “Did you not read the campus newsletter?”  
Carmilla frowned, “Do I look like someone who reads the campus newsletter?”  
Steiner gives her a once over and then shakes his head, “Guess not. We’re mediators.”  
Carmilla pauses, surprised. LaFontaine had mentioned mediators being hired last night, but Carmilla had pictured greasy haired, dark suited lawyers, not armed guards.  
“So not lawyers then.” She says more to herself, but Steiner overhears and laughs again.  
“No, not lawyers.” He says, “We keep the peace.”  
Carmilla looks him up and down, his gray uniform, his many pocketed belt with all manner of weaponry on it, his heavy Kevlar vest underneath his uniform, and his dark helmet and begins to suspect the mediators true purpose on campus and it’s not to keep the peace.  
“You keep telling yourself that.” Carmilla comments and Steiner looks affronted.   
“We are here to keep the peace. We’re mainly here to protect the human population from…well the more supernatural elements, but we’re here to protect you too.” Steiner says.  
In that moment, Steiner reminds Carmilla a lot of Kirsch and for a second she wonders where the oaf is. She turns her attention back to Steiner and once again is reminded of how young he looks. For all his protests, she highly doubts the mediators are there to protect anyone like her, but she appreciates his sentiments, naïve as they are. She figures, from the steely gazes she is getting and Russo’s previous reaction, that Steiner is probably one of the few who actually believes this and joined the mediators for that reason.   
“Yeah, I’m sure you are.” Carmilla says, she meant it to sound like agreement, but it sounds more sarcastic than anything. Russo looks at her reproachfully and Steiner looks hurt.   
Before either can speak though, Nunes speaks up for the first time, in a firm, yet rather even toned voice, “We work for the Council of Human Rights and Justice. We’re here to protect the human population of this campus and to stop any illicit supernatural activity. We’re here to make this campus safe and to keep the peace. That is our purpose. We are mediators.” He rattles it off quickly as if from memory and then is silent once again.  
Everyone is silent for several moments and then Carmilla asks, “So the Council hired you guys?” Steiner shakes his head and then thinks about it and shakes his head again, “Not quite. I mean, they did hire us I suppose, but we’re not getting paid, just credit.”  
“Credit? Wait, are you students?” Carmilla says and looks at them each in turn and then at the many more gray uniformed people milling about, “All of you?”  
Steiner nods, “Yeah, who did you think we were?”  
Carmilla looks again at the many mediators and finds that this new bit of information profoundly disturbs her. A new organization coming in and hiring new security is one thing, but recruiting students, their own population, that’s another. That’s just asking for trouble. She’s not sure what to make of it.   
She’s about to ask more questions when Russo interrupts her thoughts, “We’re here. Get in line and behave.”  
She looks forward and sees the administration building in front of her. There is a long line of students, extending out the doors and down the pathway for several meters. Everyone either looks nervous, angry, or dejected. Carmilla turns to ask Steiner something, but finds that her escort has left her. She also notices several more mediators standing along the line, keeping everyone in check.   
She spots a familiar face and blond hair at the back of line and groans, but decides to approach her with a sigh. The line is long and she’s going to be here for a while, she has to do something to entertain herself, and an argument is a form of entertainment.


	8. Friendly Competition

She sees the back of Gwen’s shoulder length, bright blond hair before she sees her face as Carmilla is coming up behind her in line. Gwen turns when she hears someone approaching and audibly groans when she sees that it’s Carmilla.  
“It’s nice to see you too, mutt.” Carmilla practically snarls, but there’s a playful edge to it.   
“You know, it was torture enough to be roused from a nice sleep this early in the morning only to have to wait in line for hours, but now on top of that, I get your company. Oh joy.” Gwen snaps back, but there is a glint of mirth in her eye.  
“You think I want to be here either, standing with the likes of you. Your smell is rather pungent. I don’t know if that’s something you’ve honed during our time apart or it’s worse than I remembered, but you stink up the place rather mightily, even with this strong wind.” Carmilla comments and then adds, “You look well though.” She then continues before Gwen can take that as a compliment, “Mangy and unkempt works well for you.” In truth, there is nothing wrong with Gwen’s appearance. Standing only a few inches taller than Carmilla, she’s lean and angular, more so than her vampire companion. Her limbs are long and muscular, but a bit lanky. Her oblong face, high cheekbones, high arched eyebrows, and deep set eyes give her a rather wolfish appearance, but Carmilla isn’t sure if that’s really because of her nature, a coincidence, or just something Carmilla is imagining in her features. But overall, she isn’t unattractive and might have even drawn Carmilla’s eye if it weren’t for her mouth.   
“Well you are looking rather sallow these days, your skin is so pale it’s almost transparent.” Gwen comments, “You should get out in the sun more.” She then feigns mock dismay, “Oops, I’m sorry. I forgot, your kind prefers skulking in the shadows.”  
“Yes, well your kind eats its own poop, so excuse me for avoiding skin cancer.” Carmilla comments.  
“I’m a wolf, not a dog, and a werewolf at that.” Gwen says indignantly, “We don’t eat poop.”  
“Whatever you say furface, whatever you say.” Carmilla says with a mocking smile that sets Gwen’s teeth on edge.  
They pause in their banter for a moment and then Carmilla asks, “So, do you know what this is all about?”  
Gwen shakes her head, her playful smile disappearing from her face and a mix of anger and worry taking its place.  
“No, no idea.” She says, “I was just woken up by some angry looking guards and dragged over here. Danny nearly came to blows with them when she found out.”  
Carmilla smiles thinking of the guards getting pummeled by the large red head, she then turns back to Gwen, “I’m slightly surprised Clifford isn’t here.”  
Gwen looks over from where she was lost in thought, probably also imagining Danny hitting the mediators.  
“Hmm?” Gwen asks and then says, “Oh, Danny, you know she’s not supernatural right?”  
Carmilla shrugs, “Yeah, I know. But not what I meant. I mean, I’m surprised she isn’t here waiting with you, hovering around protectively as she does.”  
Gwen nods in understanding and says, “I told her not to come.”  
Carmilla’s eyes widen in surprise, “Don’t tell me she actually listened to that?”  
“It took me and the two gray clad ‘escorts’ who had come to pick me up, to convince her it wasn’t a good idea.” Gwen says, “She didn’t seem happy, but she agreed it was for the best, for now.” Gwen then thinks about something and asks, “Where’s your smaller, yet nicer, friendlier, and all around better other half?”  
Carmilla glares at Gwen and then suddenly feels sad and worried all over again, remembering that Laura was nowhere to be found, “She hasn’t shown up yet.”  
Gwen looks at Carmilla confused, “What do you mean?”  
“She didn’t show up. Her stuff isn’t here. Our room was completely empty when I showed up last night.” Carmilla says.  
Gwen looks at Carmilla concerned and can see how distraught she actually is, hiding it behind her mask of anger and indifference.   
“We’ll find her.” Gwen says and her tone is unyielding. She sounds sure.  
Carmilla is surprised by this, but what surprises her even more is how much better it makes her feel.   
But instead of thanking her, Carmilla does what she does and says, “We? Who is this ‘we’ now?”  
“What, do you not want my help?” Gwen asks.  
Carmilla pretends to think on it for a moment, “Hmm, do I want an idiotic, smelly werewolf following me around wherever I go…hmm, this is a tough one.”  
Gwen scowls, “Here I was, starting to feel bad for you and now…I have half a mind to knock that umbrella right out of your hands and watch you burn up in the process.” Gwen snarls.  
“You’ll be sorely disappointed then.” Carmilla replies.  
“I know, I know, you don’t burn up in the sun, it just makes your skin all tingly or whatever.” Gwen says waving her hand.  
“True, but not why you’d be disappointed.” Carmilla says.  
“Why then?” Gwen asks.   
“Because you’d never get the umbrella out of my hand. Your werewolf reflexes are too slow.” Carmilla says, a smirk spreading across her face.  
“Want to bet?” Gwen asks, grinning back.   
“Remember how well that worked for you last time?” Carmilla asks.  
“I still say you cheated.” Gwen says.  
“For what? Turning into a panther?” Carmilla replies, “You turn into a wolf.”  
“No, for not telling me you could turn into a panther.” Gwen replies, “Besides, I trounced you two times ago.”  
“You didn’t trounce me.” Carmilla replies.  
“So did.” Gwen counters.  
“You got lucky.” Carmilla says.  
Gwen scoffs, “No way, I totally crushed you.”  
Carmilla looks annoyed and then finally bursts out, “There is no way you could know more about the history category of trivial pursuit! You had to have cheated!”  
“My mother is a history professor. She’s been teaching me history since before I could talk.” Gwen says with a smirk.  
“Yeah, but I lived through it!” Carmilla counters and then shakes her head, “You had to have cheated. There is just no other way.  
“Fine, rematch. Right here, right now.” Gwen says.  
“Standard terms?” Carmilla asks.  
Gwen nods and then says, “If I win, you have to be nice to Danny for two weeks, and I don’t mean sarcastically nice, I mean actually nice. We both can tell the difference.”   
“Fine.” Carmilla says, “But if I win, you have to write a song singing my praises and then perform it in the quad for all to hear. And I want a different song than last time.”  
“Agreed.” Gwen says and they shake hands, “First one to answer ten questions incorrectly loses. I’ll give you an easy one to start, when did the Second World War end.”  
Carmilla looks affronted, “You insult me. 1945.” Carmilla then thinks and says, “Okay then, how about, in 1945, an Allied conference decided the partition of Germany in four occupation zones. Where was that conference held?”  
Gwen thinks for a moment, “Hmmm, Yalta.” Carmilla nods reluctantly and Gwen smirks, “How many fingers did Anne Boleyn have?”  
Carmilla frowns, “What kind of question is that?”  
“Does that mean you don’t know?” Gwen says taunting her.  
“No, no, of course I know. Let me think.” Carmilla says and thinks a moment, “Eleven?”  
“Is that your final answer?” Gwen asks.  
“Yes, eleven. It’s definitely eleven.” Carmilla replies.  
Gwen pauses, not answering right away and Carmilla gets more and more irritated as time goes on until Gwen finally smiles and says, “Yes, it was eleven.”  
Carmilla smirks back, “What did the Montgolfier brothers invent?”  
Gwen frowns and thinks.  
They throw questions at each other back and forth as the line slowly moves forward. After half an hour, they are finally inside the building. After a full hour they are about thirty people away from the front of the line. By this time they both have answered nine questions incorrectly. The questions have grown more difficult as time has passed and they’ve attracted an audience, namely the others trapped in the line with them as well as the few mediators milling about.  
Everyone around them is silent as Gwen thinks, “I’m going to say…Van Buren?”  
“Is that your final answer?” Carmilla asks with a smirk.  
Gwen scowls, thinks, and then finally shrugs, “Yes.”  
Carmilla frowns herself, “Yes, that’s correct.”  
Gwen begins to think, trying to come up with a question that might trip Carmilla up. She’d hoped that asking questions from eras older than Carmilla would prove a challenge for the vampire, but she had been sorely mistaken. While Carmilla had not lived through it, she had surely had been around long enough to study it. So everything from prehistoric times to the Greeks and romans, to the many Chinese dynasties, to even the more obscure and bizarre facts did not seem to be outside Carmilla’s realm of knowledge. Gwen had even stooped as low as asking her questions during the time period Carmilla had been trapped in her coffin, hoping that perhaps that was a time in history she had avoided studying. But she was wrong about that too. This was proving more difficult than she had originally thought.  
Of course Carmilla wasn’t happy either. What Carmilla had assumed was a superficial knowledge of history combined with an overabundance of good luck during their last battle of wits, proved to be shockingly broad and deep. She wondered why this girl wasn’t a history major and had even been curious enough to ask. Gwen had replied that while history was her mother’s passion, it wasn’t hers and left it at that. Carmilla scowl deepened. She couldn’t believe this girl who was around 1/17 Carmilla’s age was actually holding her own. She couldn’t let her win. She’d never hear the end of it.   
After a long and drawn out silence Gwen finally asks, “What was the first video game to score an average 10 out of 10 in critic ratings worldwide?”  
Carmilla frowns, “That’s not a history question.”  
“Yes it is.” Gwen says, “History is the study of past events. This is in the past.”  
“Yeah, but it’s not history, its pop culture.” Carmilla counters.  
“Pop culture can be history.” Gwen replies, “I’ll give you a hint…”  
“No need, I already know what it is. The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time.” Carmilla interrupts.  
“What? If you knew the answer, why did you give me a hard time?” Gwen asks.  
“So that when I ask you this next question, I can use your own answer against you.” Carmilla says with a grin, “Who was dubbed the ‘Godmother of Punk Rock’?”   
“What?” Gwen says.  
“You heard me, who was dubbed the ‘Godmother of Punk Rock’?” Carmilla repeats and when Gwen looks at her confused Carmilla’s smile grows, “You know music, you should know this.”  
“I know folk music and hip hop, not punk rock.” Gwen replies and then puts her hand to her forehead and begins to think, “Shit.”  
“Do you give up?” Carmilla asks, grinning so wide all her teeth are practically showing.   
Gwen shakes her head, “No, no way. Let me think.” There is another long silence as everyone around them listens in. The only sounds that can be heard are the muffled voices of the administrators at the desks up ahead and the quiet breathing of everyone who needs to actually breathe.  
After a good ten minutes of complete silence and Gwen scrunching up her face in concentration, she finally gives out a resigned sigh and shakes her head. She then says in a small, almost barely audible voice, “I don’t know it.”  
Although Gwen speaks softly Carmilla with her superior hearing can most definitely hear her words, but she pretends not to hear her anyway and says, “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”  
Gwen looks up at her and scowls, “I don’t know it.” She says louder and more resolute.  
“You don’t know what?” Carmilla asks.  
“I don’t know the answer to your question.” Gwen spits out through gritted teeth.  
“So does that mean you give up?” Carmilla asks.  
Gwen takes a deep breath and lets it out, “Yes.”  
Carmilla’s smile is so wide she almost looks deranged. It’s a brief smile, but it’s enough to lift her spirits on this crappy, crappy day.   
“Say it.” Carmilla says, “The deal is, you have to say it.”  
Gwen takes another deep breath and lets it out and then says, “I Gwendolyn Adams, do hereby decree that Carmilla Karnstein is the winner of this fair and just competition and therefore is smarter, stronger, more athletic, prettier, and all around better at all aspects of life than I am and I was a fool to ever attempt to best this most wonderful, terrible, and powerful being that is Carmilla Karnstein.” Gwen then looks at Carmilla who then returns a pointed look and Gwen groans. She then gives a small and quick bow and then looks utterly mortified.  
Carmilla claps her hands together with glee and says, “Well done, well done. The flattery is truly unnecessary, but I can’t help but agree with everything you just said. So thank you for your kind words.” She then says, “The song, I expect at least two verses and a refrain. At least a minute and half in length.”  
“Fine.” Gwen says, “When do you want it?”  
“Whenever in the next month or so. I know it can be difficult for you pea brain to come up with anything good. Does that work for you?” Carmilla asks.  
“Yes.” Gwen says sharply.  
“Good.” Carmilla says, feeling better about today already, “I can’t believe you of all people put me in a better mood.”  
“Glad I could help.” Gwen says bitterly.  
“Don’t feel bad, at least you tried your very best. I mean, it wasn’t good enough, but you tried, right?” Carmilla says in a mocking tone and Gwen feels anger bubble up inside her. But Carmilla would never let Gwen know how close she had come to winning. Carmilla only knew about the Zelda thing because she had overheard LaFontaine and Laura talking about it once. It was just by chance that she had heard and remembered that stray fact from months ago. If she hadn’t she would be the one bowing and scraping before Gwen and on top of that, she would have had to been nice to big red for two whole weeks. Carmilla shuddered at the thought.   
Now that she’s not being distracted by their game Carmilla takes a look around the room. They’re standing in one of the larger conference rooms, although the conference table has been cleared away and replaced by a series of belt stanchions that create a place to queue around. Up ahead are three desks, set far enough back from the line that normal ears wouldn’t be able to hear what was being said. Although as Carmilla tries to listen she finds that she herself is having trouble and wonders if there is some kind of muffling device preventing her from overhearing the conversations.   
Behind the first desk off to the right is a short, squat, middle aged woman with gray hair, and an unpleasant expression on her face. At the middle desk is an anxious looking man somewhere in his late thirties, although he is completely bald. And on the left is a tall, older woman with sharp features that make her look like a hawk. Carmilla also notices that while the three behind the desks are sitting, there is no chair on the other side of the desk for students, forcing them to stand uncomfortably throughout the process.  
Carmilla is looking at the toad like woman on the right and the nervous student standing in front of her when her attention is drawn back to the hawk like woman on the left as some sort of commotion happens. At first, Carmilla is unsure of what is going on. The student in front of the woman looks scared while the woman herself just looks grim. The woman gestures and several of the mediators begin to move in towards the student, a tall, thin boy who couldn’t be more than eighteen. He looks absolutely terrified. Then Carmilla feels a sudden change in the atmosphere of the room, as if the pressure is dropping rapidly. She feels the hairs on her body begin to stand on end and she knows that whatever is coming can’t be good.  
“Back up!” Carmilla shouts and grabs Gwen by the arm as she begins to push backward through the crowd, “Back up! Back up! Back up!” She shouts. Carmilla watches the boy and the woman and the mediators and can see that some kind of verbal exchange is going on, they look like they’re trying to calm him. It doesn’t look like its working.   
She keeps ushering people backward and although they are confused they oblige and everyone begins to slowly funnel out of the room. But it isn’t fast enough. Carmilla and Gwen just reach the door when Carmilla swears she can hear a soft click and then suddenly there is a loud explosion that rips through the far end of the room. Carmilla and Gwen are out of the range of the fire, but they do manage to get knocked off their feet by the shockwave and slammed up against the wall. There are shouts and screams as people begin to panic.  
Carmilla just feels dazed as she gets up off the floor. Her ears are ringing. The room is filled with fire. She hears muffled screaming and shouting. She turns to see Gwen looking just as dazed, getting to her feet. She has a cut on her face which is bleeding a bit, but looks otherwise unharmed.   
The two look at each other and then back at the scene and prepare to leap into action, when the fire sprinklers turn on and in a matter of minutes the fire is out. That isn’t too surprising. What is surprising is the fact that everyone on the other side of the room where the explosion occurred appears to be okay. Carmilla then notices something she hadn’t before. There is a strange, shimmering quality to the air in front of the desks. Carmilla then realizes there is some kind of shield, a barrier protecting the people on one side from the other. Whether its scientific or magical in nature she can’t say, but it kept those behind it completely unharmed, including the mediators who must have quickly stepped behind it just as the boy exploded.  
Carmilla then realizes the boy didn’t explode as he is all in one piece, just lying unconscious on the floor. He has some kind of dart in his neck and she spots one of the mediators holstering a weapon. The mediators than step forward through the shield, place cuffs on him that give off an odd humming sound, and then lift him up and drag him out of the room. Before he’s gone, Carmilla spots an orange button on his shirt that has the number six on it.   
There is still confusion and part of the room is damaged, but the hawk like woman stands up and says in a firm voice that cuts through the noise like a knife, “Come forward. Line up.”  
Everyone stops talking and instantly obeys her. Gwen, who had been next in line before the explosion, steps to the front and Carmilla notices how nervous Gwen suddenly appears.  
“It’ll be fine.” Carmilla finds herself saying to Gwen before she realizes that she’s being nice.  
Gwen looks at her surprised, but before she can make any kind of comment the hawk like woman says, “Next.”  
Gwen just smiles and nods at Carmilla and then steps towards the hawk like woman. Carmilla can see that she’s shaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Montgolfier brothers invented the hot air balloon, just in case you were wondering


	9. Registration

It’s another five minutes or so before the student standing in front of the nervous looking man is dismissed. The girl looks somewhat forlorn as she walks away and Carmilla notices a blue button with the number two on it pinned to her lapel.   
The nervous man then says, “Next.” And Carmilla steps forward towards him. Up close she can see the effect of the shimmering barrier more clearly and she almost reaches out to touch it when the man makes a tsking noise.  
She looks over at him and he shakes his head, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. It can be rather…unpleasant feeling for those of your…nature.” Carmilla draws her hand away quickly.   
“Name.” The man says as he begins to tap the end of his pencil on the desk.  
“Carmilla Karnstein.” She replies and suddenly the man stops tapping his pencil. He looks up at her, his eyes wide with both fear and uncertainty. She thinks she sees some sweat begin to break out on his forehead.  
“Ca…ca…come again?” He stutters out.  
“Carmilla.” She says slowly, “Karnstein.” She’s beginning to get fed up with this already.  
He holds up his hand, trying to act calm, “One moment please.” He then gets up and hurriedly walks over to the hawk like woman. Carmilla suddenly hears hushed murmurs behind her and turns around to see everyone pointing and whispering. Apparently her reputation has preceded her.  
She looks back over to the man who is now whispering in the woman’s ear. Her eyes widen slightly and she looks over at Carmilla. Her already severe looking face, frowns deeper, making her look almost comically angry for a moment before her face settles back to the stern mask it was wearing before.  
She then turns to Gwen in front of her and gestures over towards Carmilla. She then says something to the nervous man. Gwen nods and then begins to walk over to Carmilla. The nervous man walks back towards his desk.  
Once Gwen is close enough she says, “She wants to talk to you.” She gestures with a thumb over her shoulder and Carmilla looks back at the woman who is watching her carefully. Carmilla shrugs and walks over to the hawk like woman. Carmilla looks into the woman’s eyes and finds them to be a striking, gunmetal blue. They’re hard, fierce, and yet somehow familiar. She can’t quite place where she’s seen them before.  
“Carmilla Karnstein.” The woman says in a voice with more emotion than she expected. It’s a clear, distinctive voice. A voice that can cut through noise and chatter with a single word. A voice that could be heard across a battlefield, leading an army to victory, “I’ve heard of you.”  
“Funny, I’ve never heard of you.” Carmilla says glibly, staring at her nails as she does so. She can feel the woman’s cold, hard disapproving eyes upon her.   
“I suppose that’s a good thing, seeing as I work for a secret government organization.” The woman replies and Carmilla swears she sees the corners of the woman’s lips turn up slightly in what could conceivably be the beginnings of a smile or a sneer. But it’s gone all too soon.   
Carmilla mulls over that answer and then realizes something, “This is all part of Phil’s organization? You’re all part of Phil’s secret government organization that blunders around and tries to stop supernatural goings on? No wonder this is all a major clusterfuck so far. I should have known you guys were behind this. I should have pummeled that little weasel Phil when I had the chance.”  
The woman frowns, “You should watch your language. Also, Phillip Henderson is no longer working with our organization.”  
“Why? Too much of a fuck up? I thought that kind of thing was right up your alley considering your track record.” Carmilla comments.  
“I said, watch your language.” The woman scolds, her voice going a shade darker and Carmilla feels a chill go up her spine, “And I cannot comment on the nature of Mr. Henderson’s release.”  
“Alright, fine, then what’s all this about?” Carmilla asks, “Dragging all these people here at this ungodly hour just to register for classes? That seems a bit heavy handed don’t you think?”  
“This is about the safety of this campus. And given the events of the last two semesters as well as the supernatural goings on here since the inception of this school, my organization believes that this is all quite necessary.” The woman replies.  
“Well, that’s just perfect isn’t it?” Carmilla says shaking her head, “I was worried when I thought the reigns of this school had been passed to someone who had no idea how to handle it, but no, this is worse. You think you know how to handle it, but you actually have no idea. You blunder around putting out campfires while there is a roaring inferno around you and then you pat yourselves on the back thinking you’ve taken care of the job while the whole place burns to the ground.”  
The woman looks slightly offended, though hides it well as she says, “I think we’ve done a fine job considering what we’ve had to deal with and going on the information that we’ve had. Now that we know more, we know what do to. We’ll handle things better.”  
Carmilla laughs, audibly and fully for a solid thirty seconds before she gets control of herself again.   
“I guess I don’t have to ask your opinions on this then.” The woman says with a scowl.  
Carmilla shakes her head and her laughter quickly dies down. She then frowns deeply, “You have no idea what you’re dealing with. This place needs subtly, needs someone who understands its intricacies; it needs the fine edge of a surgical knife. But you, you have all the subtly of a chain saw. You’re going to hack away at it and then stand back confused as it begins to hemorrhage all over the place.”  
“And I suppose you think your mother did a better job?” The woman asks an accusatory tone to her voice.  
Carmilla’s nonchalant attitude disappears quickly at the mention of her mother and a fiery anger comes into her eyes. She thinks she sees fear flash across this woman’s face for a moment, but she hardly cares. She has a thousand words to say and none of them are particularly polite, but she bites her tongue, almost literally. She knows this is a test, they’re seeing where her loyalties lie. She thought that she had made them quite clear after defying her mother quite openly and helping in her defeat, not to mention saving the school, several thousand students, and the former Dean himself last semester. But that didn’t seem to be the case.  
A part of her didn’t care what they thought. Their opinions didn’t really matter to her. These people were incompetent fools. She didn’t respect them; she didn’t care about what they believed or didn’t believe about her. They could hate her, they could curse her, they could spit at her name, and she would feel nothing. A part of her just didn’t care at all.  
But another part of her knew she should, not because she cared about their opinion at all, but because they currently ran this school. And if she ever wanted to stop them, get off this campus, and find Laura, she’d have to play their games. God how she hated playing their games. She had played her mother’s games for far too long and she was sick of it. She had a taste of freedom for a millisecond before she was now wrapped up in politics all over again.   
She didn’t want this, this responsibility. All she wanted was to spend time with her girlfriend and she couldn’t even do that now. A part of her wanted to just leave. But she had spent too much time hiding in the shadows, kowtowing to monsters. She couldn’t let herself do that again. Not since a very special nineteen year old girl came into her life.   
So here she was, staring this woman down, wanting to let a torrent of fiery words stream from her lips and put this woman in her place. But she didn’t. She bit her tongue and let her eyes say what she really felt.  
“No.” Carmilla hisses out through clenched teeth, “No my mother did not do a better job.”  
The woman frowns, but nods, and then begins to shuffle some papers in front of her, “Well, I suppose we’re not here to discuss how this school should or should not be run.”  
“Then what are we here for?” Carmilla snaps.   
“Registration.” The woman replies and begins to read.  
“I don’t even know the course schedule.” Carmilla says with a shrug, “I’m a philosophy major, so whatever is the next level of classes for that…”  
“That’s not the kind of registration I’m talking about.” The woman cuts her off sharply and continues to read what looks like a file.   
Carmilla is now confused, “Then what kind of registration are you talking about?”   
But the woman doesn’t answer as she continues to read. She makes some noises of interest and disapproval before she finally sets the file down and looks back up at Carmilla.  
“Well, you’ve had an interesting time here.” She comments and then asks, “How much weight can you lift?” She pulls out a pen, poised to write.   
Carmilla is taken aback, by the sudden change in topic, “Why is that relevant?”  
“Answer the question.” The woman says.  
“I don’t know, I’ve never measured it. Over 350 kilograms.” Carmilla says and the woman nods and writes that down.  
“And how fast can you run?” She asks.  
“Over 160 kilometers per hour.” Carmilla says.  
“You’ve been known to teleport, any limitations on that?” She asks.  
“Why do you need to know this?” Carmilla asks, “I don’t think I want to tell you this.”  
The woman looks up suddenly, her eyes growing colder, “You don’t have a choice Miss Karnstein. You will obey or you will be punished.”  
Carmilla is about to object when she senses movement around her. She turns to see several of the mediators moving in closer to her, hands on the weapons on their belts.   
Carmilla sighs, “Fine.”  
“Good.” The woman says, “Now, any limitations on your teleportation?”  
“Just that I can only teleport where I’ve been.” She says, she doesn’t add that the more distance she travels the more tired she becomes.  
“It’s rumored you can start fires just by using your eyes. Is that caused by lasers or is it a psychic effect?” The woman asks.  
“I can’t start fires with my eyes, those are just rumors.” Carmilla lies.  
The woman looks at her, searching her face for something. She then makes a humming noise and writes something down.  
“Many vampires can shapeshift into different creatures, what is your alternate form?” The woman asks and Carmilla is about to lie and say she doesn’t have one when the woman adds, “And don’t tell me you don’t have one. We know that you do.”  
Carmilla scowls, shrugs, and says, “Panther.”  
“And your mesmer abilities, how do they work?” The Dean asks, “Do you have to look into someone’s eyes? Is it by touch? Some kind of pheromone?”   
Now Carmilla is completely confused, “I don’t have any mesmer abilities or anything like that.”  
A shadow is cast across the Dean’s face as she scowls and says, “What did I say about lying Miss Karnstein?”  
“I’m not lying.” Carmilla replies.  
The Dean shakes her head, “I would have thought you’d know better by now. We have on record that you have mesmer abilities. So the fact that you’re denying them just clarifies for us how cooperative you’re willing to be.”  
“On record?” Carmilla asks, “Who…” She then remembers all her ‘study buddies’ she had before Laura. All the girls who would want to distance themselves from her once the whole campus knew what she was and the opinion of supernatural students had changed. What better way to push themselves from her, but by making themselves victims? People she preyed upon, mesmerized, controlled against their will, as opposed to girls who had been more than willing to spend the night with her. Anger bubbled up inside her once again and she considered, once leaving here, finding those girls and giving them a piece of her mind or a piece of her fist.   
Instead she turns back to the Dean and says, “I don’t know what’s been said about me, but I do not have any mind control or mesmer abilities.”  
The Dean makes a hmming noise and then writes something down, “Alright. How often do you need to drink blood?”  
Carmilla’s scowl deepens, but she says, “Every few days or so is best.”  
“And how long can you last without blood?” The woman asks.  
“Why?” Carmilla asks.  
“Answer the question.” She says.  
“These are very personal questions.” Carmilla says, “What gives you the right to ask them?”  
The woman looks up at Carmilla again, her eyes cold as ice, “That right was granted to me by the organization that currently runs this school. This is for your protection as much as everyone else’s Miss Karnstein, so you would do well to cooperate with us in these matters.”  
“Fine.” Carmilla says, “Two weeks and I’ll fall unconscious. A year or so and I’ll die.”  
“A year?” The woman asks surprised.  
“Vampires can voluntarily or involuntarily fall into a dormant state where they use less energy and therefore require less blood to survive. Some vampires have been known to last decades with very minimal blood consumption.” Carmilla replies.  
The woman nods and begins to write again, she speaks as she writes, “Is that what you did when you were in the coffin?”  
Carmilla stiffens, her body dropping several degrees colder than normal. If she could break out into a cold sweat she would. She feels slightly nauseous and hides her hands behind her back as they begin to shake.  
“Yes.” She grinds out through gritted teeth. The woman doesn’t seem to even notice the disturbance she’s caused.  
Carmilla slowly calms herself down as the woman continues to write.  
“Alright Miss Karnstein, we already know that vampires can be weakened by garlic and holy water. They have a vulnerability to sunlight, but it doesn’t burn in the traditional sense. How about a branch of wild rose or a hawthorn plant? Any weakness to those?”  
“No to first, yes to the second.” Carmilla says and the woman nods.  
“How about sacred items like a crucifix or rosary?” The woman asks, “Can you walk on consecrated ground?”  
“Neither crucifixes nor a rosary weakens me.” Carmilla says, “And I can walk on consecrated ground.”  
The woman makes another hmming noise and writes that down, “Yes, that is consistent with what we found. We have found that much of the sacred artifact lore concerning vampires has proven false, making us believe the origins lie with demons who people thought were vampires and then attributed those weaknesses to vampires. Although I find it interesting that most vampires are vulnerable to holy water. Perhaps you are lesser demons of some sort.”  
“I’m not a demon.” Carmilla snaps.  
“You say that, yet you don’t know that for certain.” The woman replies, “Where does your vampiric nature come from? You were once human, yes? Well, how did you become a vampire? Is it an infection? Is a demonic possession? Is it an illness? Perhaps a magical illness? Who knows?”  
“I am a not a demon.” Carmilla repeats firmly.  
The woman shrugs, “Alright, believe what you must. Now, let’s continue. Can you cross running water?”  
“Yes.” Carmilla says.  
The woman nods, “Yes, that is an odd one. We think that tale ties back to an old Germanic myth about a man being chased by a vampire across a river. Once the man crossed the river, the vampire didn’t follow. I think he assumed that meant vampires couldn’t cross running water. In reality, it’s more likely the vampire couldn’t swim.”  
This line of questioning continues for a while, heading into darker areas like methods for killing vampires and how vampires turn humans. At the end of it all, Carmilla is annoyed, but also somewhat confused for several reasons.   
She voices one of them, “Why are you asking me all this? Don’t you know all this already?” The woman nods, “Sure. But there are different types of vampires. The Aswang can shapeshift into anyone and is vulnerable to a whip made of stingray tail. The Russian Upyr has metal teeth and likes to tear their victims to shreds. Yara-ma-yha-who is small, red, and uses suckers on its hands and feet to drink blood. The Penanggalan can remove its head. The list goes on and on. Each species of vampire, while related, has their own unique properties, abilities, and vulnerabilities. We’re just trying to figure out what type you are.”  
“Alright, what type am I?” Carmilla asks, sounding disinterested, but actually rather curious.  
“The scientific name is Homo nosferatus.” The woman says.  
“What does that mean?” Carmilla asks.  
“You’re a common European vampire.” The woman says with a shrug, “The more accurate colloquial name would probably be Strigoi, as you can trace your roots back to the original Romanian line.”  
Carmilla frowns, “Why all this fuss? Why not just say I’m a vampire. Sure there are different types, but my type is vampire.”  
The woman shakes her head, “I mean we could. But calling you a vampire is like calling you a primate. So it’s accurate, but rather general.” She writes something down again and then gestures to someone behind Carmilla. Carmilla whips around to see a mediator approaching and begins to get into a defensive stance.  
“Don’t be alarmed. He’s just going to scan you.” The woman behind the desk says.  
Carmilla doesn’t relax, but she doesn’t make any move to attack him either. Before the mediator can pull something from his belt Carmilla hears shouting coming from off to her right. She turns towards the sound and sees Gwen shouting and gesturing angrily.   
“This isn’t right!” Gwen shouts, “You can’t do this! We have rights! We have rights!”  
The nervous man behind the desk says something, but it’s muffled. Several mediators move in carefully. Gwen spots them and scowls deeper, but her shoulders get a resigned slump to them. She then angrily reaches for something on the desk, forgetting the barrier. Her fingers brush the barrier and there’s a sharp electric looking spark. Gwen yelps, quickly drawing her hand away, and then begins to shake out her hand as if to regain feeling.  
The man behind the desk says something and Gwen glares at him as she shouts, “Just give it here! All of it!” The man nervously hands her some items and she snatches them away, “Is that it? Is that all of it?” She asks angrily, “Are we done here?” The man nods and says something again, but before he finishes Gwen turns on her heel and quickly stomps away. Before she leaves she turns back to the room and says, “This isn’t over.” She then turns away again and leaves, muttering to herself angrily.  
Carmilla watches the whole display with confusion, but she gets a sinking feeling in her stomach again. She turns back to the mediator on her left who then reaches for something on his belt. He pulls out what looks like a security scanner wand that’d you’d find in airports and scans her entire body twice. He then puts the wand back into his belt and backs away without saying a word.  
Carmilla turns back to the woman behind the desk, who is now looking at a computer. She’s making more hmming and humming noises and then mutters something like, “On the cusp, better be safe than sorry though.” After ten minutes of looking at something on the screen and Carmilla making more and more impatient noises the woman looks up at her again.  
“Alright Miss Karnstein, we’re just printing your ID and badge now. Know that you have to have your ID on you at all times and your badge must be displayed in an area easily visible. If anyone asks to see your ID, you must show them without any opposition and any…” The woman begins, but is interrupted by Carmilla.  
“I’m sorry, ID? Badge?” Carmilla asks, “What is this about?”  
“Your registration as a supernatural creature.” The woman replies easily, “All supernatural creatures must be registered and easily identified at all times per the new supernatural registration act and code of conduct.”  
“What!?” Carmilla practically shouts.


	10. Human Status

“Your registration as a…” The woman begins, but Carmilla cuts her off.  
“I heard you.” Carmilla snaps, “You can’t do this.”  
“I most certainly can.” The woman replies.  
“No, this is profiling. This is persecution. I have rights. We have rights.” Carmilla practically snarls out.   
The woman behind the desk shakes her head almost sadly, “Well actually Miss Karnstein, you don’t.”  
“The hell I don’t!” Carmilla says, “This is bullshit. You’re bullshitting me right now.”  
“Watch your language. Don’t make me remind you again.” The woman says darkly, her eyes going from blue to a steely grey for a moment before lightening up again, “And I am not lying or making this up. Not only are you technically dead, so therefore your rights should technically be significantly diminished, but you are not even human. Rights as they are, only apply to humans.”  
“You can’t be serious. This a joke right?” Carmilla asks.  
“No Miss Karnstein, it is not.” The woman replies gravely, shaking her head, “But after a semester of good behavior you may apply for human status and gain the rights of a human, but until then you do not have the same rights as everyone else. And you are very lucky that we are granting you the certain privileges you are exhibiting right now.”  
“This has to be illegal. The Austrian government cannot be supporting this.” Carmilla says.  
“The Austrian government has very little knowledge of what we do, but that is how they like it. They have given us full approval to do as we see fit.” The woman says, “Besides, our organization goes beyond governments.”  
“But why? Why here? Why now?” Carmilla asks.  
“Why? Because we, the human population, have let the supernatural element of this world step all over us for far too long. We have let you do as you please for eons with little regard for us, our rules, or our civilizations. My organization has been trying to integrate supernatural creatures into our society since its inception with varying degrees of success, however nowhere near what we want. We’ve now decided after the recent events on this campus, to take a more forceful approach. And this school is a hive of paranormal activity, a place where all many of strange and bizarre happens. Where supernatural students nearly equal human students in numbers. It’s the perfect place to test out our social integration programs, to see if you students can actually become part of this world.” The woman tells Carmilla.  
Carmilla scowls, “You blame us? Them…” Carmilla gestures to the crowd behind her, “For what happened here on this campus last semester.”  
“Of course.” The woman says, “Things like that don’t happen on other campuses. The only difference between this campus and others is you.”  
Carmilla laughs again, but it’s not a happy laugh, it’s more of a quick sharp jeer, “If you think that, then you’re worse off than I thought.” She then feels a fire burning in her chest, “Most of the students, supernatural or otherwise, are harmless. They’re here to get a good education, make some friends, party a little or a lot as the case may be, and find a place where they feel like they belong. The supernatural students of this campus have been victims just as much as the human variety. Most don’t prey on humans, have never preyed on humans, and will never prey on humans. There were no sides to this, until you created it. And you’re a fool if you think that this self-righteous, us versus them mentality that you’ve developed here is going to end any other way than disastrously.”  
“We’ve tried subtler approaches in the past and they haven’t worked.” The woman says, “We’re trying this now.”  
“You’re not assimilating the students though!” Carmilla shouts, “You’re segregating them!”  
The woman shrugs, “I am just following the plan laid out by my organization. If you have concerns, you can file them with the appropriate office.”  
“And what if it doesn’t happen? What if it doesn’t work?” Carmilla asks, “Then what? Genocide?”  
The woman’s eye twitches once and then she scowls, “No Miss Karnstein, not genocide. And what our plans are after the fact are none of your concern.”  
“Oh, I think it is.” Carmilla says taking a threatening step forward and then remembering there is a barrier between her and the woman, “I think it’s a concern to all of us.”  
“It doesn’t matter. I am not at liberty to discuss my organizations plans.” The woman says, “And I certainly don’t have to justify why to you.”  
“You’re going to kill us.” Carmilla says matter of factly, “If this doesn’t work, you’re going to kill all of us. You’re a monster.”  
The woman’s face twists into a mask of rage in an instant. One moment, she’s placidly sitting behind her desk, looking at most slightly annoyed. The next she’s on her feet, hands slamming down on top of the desk, lips practically in a snarl, eyes showing a burning hatred the likes of which Carmilla had never seen before.   
But the woman’s voice is cold and even, barely even hinting at the rage lurking beneath and it sets Carmilla’s teeth on edge. She feels a shiver run up her spine as the woman speaks.  
“How dare you call me a monster, after everything you have done? After everything your kind has done? I am protecting my people. Protecting them from a war you started eons ago and that we have been waging in secret for thousands of years. And now, finally we have the upper hand. We have a way to fight back and defend ourselves after being continually slaughtered, and you call me a monster? No, I am not a monster, we are not the monsters, but we will soon be rid of them if need be.” She says.  
“You’re insane.” Carmilla says, “And delusional.”  
“For what? Believing in a better world.” The woman replies, “We are done here, Miss Karnstein.” The woman says, her face growing calm again as she sits back down, “Your ID and badge are done. Like I said before, you must wear your badge at all times and have your ID on you at all times. You must show your ID to anyone who asks for it and anyone can refuse you service or entrance based on your supernatural standing. Here is the new student Code of Conduct, I would suggest you read through it thoroughly as there have been a significant number of additions and changes and it comes into effect tomorrow at noon.” She hands Carmilla her badge, ID, and the new handbook through the barrier and Carmilla takes them, with anger in her eyes.  
“Who do you think you are, that you can just do this to all of us?” Carmilla finally asks, though she suspects she already knows the answer.  
The woman smiles at her, but it isn’t a friendly one, and says, “Why Miss Karnstein, I though you already knew? My mistake. I am the new Dean of this school. Welcome to Silas U. Have a wonderful semester.”


	11. Level 6

Carmilla is at the doorway of the conference room, clutching her badge, ID, and handbook tightly in her hands, so tightly that her knuckles are turning white. She resists using enough force to just crush them as she strides confidently past the long line of waiting students and out into the hallway. She makes it as far as the exit to the administration building before a mediator steps forward to stop her.  
“You have to wear the badge.” A tall, broad shouldered, flat faced girl says and points to her own chest as if to show Carmilla where to put it.  
Carmilla tenses her whole body to stop herself from slamming her fist into this girl’s face. She knows that her anger towards this girl is somewhat misplaced, but at this moment she doesn’t really care. Instead of hitting her, she instead goes for biting sarcasm.  
“Oh really? Do I? Do I really have to wear it? I thought I was just supposed to shove it up your ass.” Carmilla snarls out and takes a bit of pleasure in watching the girl jump back in surprise.   
The girl then frowns and says in a pouty tone, “No need to get snippy.”  
Carmilla would like nothing more than to wring this girl’s neck, but instead she just sighs, takes the badge, and pins it to her shirt, “Happy Frankenstein? Can I go now?”  
The girl seems to be confused about the Frankenstein insult and frowns, “I’m not an unnatural.”  
Carmilla groans, wondering how she always managed to get stuck with the morons.  
“No, you simpleton, I was just…did you call me an unnatural?” Carmilla asks stopping mid tirade.   
“Well yeah, aren’t you one?” The girl asks, “You have a badge.” She points, “That means you’re an unnatural.”  
“I think the word you’re looking for is supernatural.” Carmilla says.  
The girl shakes her head, “Nuh uh, I heard another guy call you unnaturals.”  
Realizing that this was probably a new slur that was about to make its way across campus and was being misused by a girl with less than half a wit Carmilla just turns away from the girl, opens her umbrella, and steps out the door.   
Carmilla steps out into the daylight and looks at the clock to find that it’s only eight thirty, meaning she was probably awoken around six or six-thirty. Her mood darkens even further, which she wasn’t sure was even possible, as a wave of exhaustion hits her. It’s been a long day and it isn’t even nine o’clock yet.   
She stomps across campus, umbrella in one hand, ID and handbook in the other, daring anyone to stop her. Fortunately, most likely for them, no one does and she makes it all the way back to her room without incident.  
She opens the door, glares into the room for a few seconds, and then shuts it to a wave of protests coming from the other side. She turns to leave when the door is opened from the inside and LaFontaine appears.  
“Come on, we need to talk.” LaFontaine says, there is no humor in their voice. They then disappear back into the room.   
“Great, being invited into my own room. Awesome. Just what I need right now.” Carmilla mutters to herself as she enters the room. She then looks at the assembled group of LaFontaine sitting in the one chair in the room, Perry lying face down on Carmilla’s bed looking ill, both Danny and Gwen sitting on Laura’s bed, and Kirsch sitting on the floor and leaning up against the wardrobe and says, “Yeah, great, just come in everyone, no problem. Thanks for asking or even waiting for me to be back in the room.”  
“We have a problem.” Danny says.  
“Yeah, the problem is you people have no boundaries.” Carmilla snaps, “Laura isn’t here, meaning there is no buffer, meaning I have an even lower tolerance for your dimwitted tomfoolery…”  
“Tomfoolery? Really?” Gwen comments and gets such a dark look from Carmilla, that she for once doesn’t say anything.  
“…than I normally would.” Carmilla finishes.  
“We need to talk about what is going on, on this campus.” LaFontaine says.  
“Fine, let’s just ignore the fact that you all just came into my room without my permission. What is it that you wanted to discuss?” Carmilla asks, “The fact that I can’t get off this campus? The new grey suited goons stomping about? These stupid badges some of us now have to wear? The ridiculous registration? This gigantic handbook that I haven’t read, but I suspect will make me very, very angry? Or the crazy new Dean that probably wants to wipe out all the supernatural creatures on this campus?” She’s yelling by the end of it. All her pent up anger finally comes bursting forth, but once she’s done talking her anger hasn’t dissipated and she grabs a nearby lamp and throw it against the wall. It smashes to pieces and everyone in the room flinches and ducks, while a few yelp.  
“What the hell?” Kirsch asks.  
Carmilla turns on him, her eyes full of rage, “Don’t start with me you lumbering, idiotic, chicken brained, ape faced…”  
“Oookaaay.” LaFontaine interrupts, “We get it, you’re pissed. We’re all pissed. Let’s take it down a notch though.”  
Carmilla glares at LaFontaine, but slowly begins to feel the fire in her die down and she lets out a long drawn out sigh. She starts to walk towards her bed, sees Perry still lying there looking sick, and then turns to LaFontaine and says, “Move.”   
LaFontaine gets up from the chair with their hands raised in a placating gesture, moves to the end of Carmilla’s bed, and slides in near Perry’s feet. Carmilla sits down in the chair and thinks how good it feels to just sit, she’s exhausted. She closes her eyes and hears someone about to speak. She holds up her hand to stop them and they don’t say a word. She sits there in silence with her eyes closed for a few seconds before she opens them and looks at the group.  
“I just needed one moment of peace today.” Carmilla says and they all nod in understanding, she sighs one more time, and then says, “So, we have a bit of a problem.”  
“That’s an understatement.” Gwen says.  
“It seems like the campus is cracking down on all supernatural activity.” LaFontaine says, “And going to rather extreme lengths to do it.” They glance over at Perry who is just lying there and there is no joking nonchalance in their tone, no laughter in their eyes.  
Carmilla follows Lafontaine’s eyes and really looks at Perry for the first time. She’s lying there, with a glazed look on her face. She’s peaked and there is line of sweat dripping down her forehead. She looks absolutely dreadful and every once in a while Carmilla can hear a soft whimper come from her. Whenever that happens, LaFontaine rubs a hand along her leg to try and soothe her.   
“What’s wrong with Donna Reed?” Carmilla asks, but not unkindly.  
LaFontaine looks grim as they speak, “You see the badge you’re wearing?” They tap their chest where Carmilla’s badge is and Carmilla looks down at it.   
Carmilla looks down briefly and then back up, “Yeah…”  
LaFontaine reaches over and brushes Perry’s hair aside to reveal an orange badge with the number six on it. The same badge Carmilla had seen the explosive boy wearing before he was dragged off.  
“What does it mean?” Carmilla asks.  
“You haven’t read the handbook, right….” LaFontaine says more to themselves than to anyone else. They then reach over and pick up a handbook off the bed and flip through it to a particular page. They then hand it over to Carmilla who looks down to see a chart titled, Quick Identification of Supernatural Power and Threat Level. She continues to read.

Level 1: Only superficial differences between level one supernatural creatures and humans. Most are not full-blooded supernatural creatures and often have ancestors several generations back. Power level: Equal to human or minimal. Threat level: None.  
Level 2: Often have more noticeable differences than level one, but have minor powers like being able to change their hair or eye color, being able find lost items, or being able to plug in a USB the right way every time. Power level: Minimal to minor. Threat level: Annoyance.  
Level 3: More powerful than level twos, often with minor physical improvements like a slightly increased healing factor, superior hearing or sight, may even be slightly stronger than the average human or able to control minor elements. Easily contained, although they can be dangerous under the right circumstances. Do not underestimate. Power level: Moderate. Threat Level: Potentially Dangerous.  
(See rules and regulations on the next page for level 3’s)  
Level 4: These beings have real power and can do significant damage. They often have superior strength, speed, healing abilities, or other physical attributes. Some can manipulate the forces of nature or the mind. Creatures like shape shifters, young werewolves, and sirens fall under this category. Power level: High. Threat Level: Dangerous (See rules and regulations on page 92 for level 4’s)  
Level 5: Often with more enhanced abilities of level fours or multiple abilities in different categories, these creatures are some of the most powerful and dangerous out there. Use extreme caution when dealing with them as they are often volatile due to their heightened abilities. Creatures such as mid-level vampires, older werewolves, and elder fey fall under this category. Power level: Great Threat Level: Highly Dangerous (See rules and regulations on page 103 for level 5’s)  
Level 6: Anything above a level 5 is considered a level 6. They are the most powerful creatures known and can range from powerful witches to demigods. They often have the ability to manipulate themselves or the environment around them using high level magics. If you see a level 6 without their wristband, respond immediately. Locate the nearest mediators or if you are a mediator, take them out without hesitation. These creatures are too dangerous to let walk about without some kind of control. Power level: Extraordinary. Threat Level: Extremely dangerous. (See rules and regulations on page 108 for level 6’s) 

Carmilla finishes reading and looks over at Perry again, trying to reconcile in her head the idea that this nervous breakdown walking could be considered extremely dangerous to anyone, but herself.   
“She’s a level 6?” Carmilla asks.  
“What’s a level 6?” Gwen asks, “I haven’t read through the handbook yet. She opens her own handbook and flips through it, “What page is it…never mind found it.” She begins to read.  
“Yes.” LaFontaine replies to Carmilla.  
“And they think she’s going to what? Hurt someone? Kill someone?” Danny asks, “Have they met Perry?”  
“It has nothing to do with personality and all to do with ability. They see her as a threat and so…” LaFontaine trails off as they gesture to the steel grey wristband Perry is wearing that Carmilla hadn’t noticed before.  
“Level four, power level, high, threat level, dangerous.” Gwen says and then smirks and looks at Danny, “Hey, look at this, I’m dangerous.” She says that in a jokingly dark tone. She then looks over at Carmilla and spots the five on her badge, “What!? A five! And I’m just a four! No way!”  
Carmilla, despite herself, grins wickedly and says, “I don’t know why this is such a surprise to you, we already knew I was superior.”  
“No way, I could kick your ass anytime.” Gwen says.  
“Are you forgetting the fact that I beat you rather easily last semester?” Carmilla asks, feigning innocence as she revels in Gwen’s annoyance.  
“You poisoned me. I was weak. That doesn’t count.” Gwen protests.  
“Does the baby werewolf want to cry about how unfair it all is?” Carmilla mocks and Gwen scowls and is about to say something when Carmilla turns away and back towards LaFontaine, “So the wristband, they mentioned it in the handbook. What does it do?”  
“I’m not exactly sure because I haven’t had the chance to examine it much yet, but it seems to lessen her abilities, perhaps even negate them entirely. But it also…it also makes her feel sick.” LaFontaine says, “I don’t know how long that’ll last. I hope it goes away soon.” Perry makes another whimpering noise and LaFontaine rubs a soothing circle along her back. Carmilla feels a pang of pity go through her.


	12. Making Plans

“This has to be, like, illegal or something.” Kirsch says, “No way they can do this to you guys.”  
“According to our lovely new Dean, it’s not.” Carmilla says, “We’re not human, so technically we don’t get things like human rights.”  
Danny frowns, “For real? That’s such a narrow view of the declaration of human rights. I don’t buy it. I’ll review it and see if there’s something we can argue, something we can use.”  
“I’m not sure that would do much good anyway.” Carmilla says, “It’s not like we can go before a court and try and have all this repealed or whatever. The Austrian government doesn’t seem to care. They’ve given the organization free reign.”  
“The government may not care, but what about everyone else? What about the people of this country? Or the rest of the European countries? Or even the rest of the world? If we broadcast this out over social media maybe we could get a response.” LaFontaine says.  
“Yeah, like twitter and Facebook and tumblr and stuff like that.” Kirsch says, “We should do what Laura does, make videos and post them.”  
Carmilla feels a twinge of sadness go through her as she thinks about Laura. Her thoughts drift to her girlfriend. Why didn’t she show up to school? Where could she be? Why didn’t she leave Carmilla some kind of note or sign or something to indicate what was going on? Was she in trouble? Was she captured? Was she being tortured? Or worse…was she…Carmilla couldn’t even think it. She instantly felt sick at the thought.   
She was drawn out of her thoughts when she hears her name.  
“What?” She asks, realizing that everyone is looking at her now.  
“I said, what do you think of our social media takeover idea?” Lafontaine repeats.  
Carmilla shrugs, “Not my area of expertise, but it doesn’t sound horrible.”  
“It’ll put us in their crosshairs.” LaFontaine says.  
“What else is new?” Danny says and they all nod in agreement.  
“We need to do something more. Just getting the word out isn’t enough.” Carmilla says.  
“What do you mean?” Kirsch asks.  
“This campus is about to become a war zone. Tensions are running high already and everything is about to boil over, I can just feel it. We can’t let that happen.” Carmilla says.  
“Why not?” Kirsch asks, “Shouldn’t we put up a fight?”  
“The organization is using this as a test run, to see if the supernatural population can integrate with the so called ‘normal’ humans.” Carmilla says, “If not then, well, I get the impression we won’t last very long after that.”  
“Wait, are we talking about genocide right here, right now?” LaFontaine asks.  
“Yep.” Carmilla says.  
“This is insane.” Gwen says, “I’m human. They can’t say that I’m not human. Just because I have lycanthropy doesn’t mean I’m not human. That’s like saying someone contracting AIDS is no longer human. It makes no sense.”  
“Well, I’m glad you made that comparison between being and werewolf and AIDS.” Carmilla comments, “But let’s remember that some of us arguably are no longer human and haven’t been human for a very long time.”  
“Some were never human.” LaFontaine comments.  
“Right.” Carmilla nods in agreement.  
“Which is why we can’t just firebomb the administration building screaming about human rights.” Danny says in understanding.  
“No matter how much we want to.” Carmilla adds, “Because we’d just be proving that humans and the supernatural can’t come together, we can’t be assimilated.”  
“Our best bet is to prove to them we can be more than what they think of us…well you…you know what I mean.” LaFontaine says, “It seems like they want this to work, but they expect it to fail. We can’t let it.”  
“So then, what’s the plan?” Gwen asks and they all turn to look at Carmilla.   
Carmilla looks back at all of them and scowls, “Don’t look at me. I’m not in charge.”  
“Yes, well our normal leader isn’t here right now, so by proxy you’re in charge. Besides, you know the most about this kind of stuff.” LaFontaine says.  
“You think I know about how to keep the peace?” Carmilla asks and then laughs, “Nerdlinger, I start riots, I don’t stop them.”  
“Still, you have to know something.” Danny says.  
Carmilla thinks for a moment and then says, “Alright well, like I said, things are about to come to a head, we need to prevent that from happening.”  
“Meaning?” Danny asks.  
“Meaning, anywhere we think an argument or a fight might break out, we need to be there to stop it, to help things get resolved.” Carmilla says.  
“But uh, hot…Carmilla…how are we supposed to uh, do that?” Kirsch asks, “There aren’t so many of us.”  
“He has a point. We can’t be everywhere.” Danny says.  
“We need more people.” Gwen says.  
“We’ll have to recruit more.” LaFontaine says, “We can’t be the only ones feeling this way.”  
“I know some of the Zetas who would totally be down to help.” Kirsch says, “I mean some of the Zetas joined up with those mediator assholes, but some were so against it. So they would be down for sure.”  
Danny nods and adds, “Yeah, same with the Summer Society girls. Some have joined the mediators, some are against it, and some are neutral. It’s actually caused a rift in the group.”  
“I’m surprised you guys didn’t get asked to join.” LaFontaine comments, “On paper you guys seem like the perfect candidates for the mediators.”  
Danny shrugs, “I didn’t get any notice, perhaps they know about Gwen and me and figured it was a lost cause.”  
“I did.” Kirsch says and they all turn to look at him surprised, he looks shamefaced as he says, “I thought it was a joke.”  
“Hey, that’s alright Kirsch.” Gwen says, “You didn’t join up, that’s what’s important.”  
“No way would I join up with those assholes.” Kirsch says, “Hearing some of them talk about you guys and others on this campus, it uh, it really riles me up. They have no idea what they’re talking about and sometimes I just want to punch them in the face.”  
“Here, here.” Carmilla says with a nod.  
“We can see about recruiting others outside of the two societies.” LaFontaine says, “Send out a notice or something about an organization hoping to keep the peace between the two sides.”  
“This treats the symptoms though and not the problem.” Gwen says and they all look at her confused, so she continues, “I’m not saying it’s not a good idea, it is. But this only stops small day to day conflicts, this won’t stop the overall tension between the two sides. That’s the real problem. The two sides don’t trust each other anymore. They’re viewing each other as enemies instead of fellow classmates. We need to change their mind.”  
“How?” Danny asks.  
“Hmm, I don’t know.” Gwen says.  
“When my bros and I are fighting we throw a party and get drunk. That usually fixes it.” Kirsch says.  
“Kirsch, we can’t just get the entire campus drunk until they’re weeping on each other’s shoulders.” Danny says.  
“Hey, we don’t weep.” Kirsch counters, “Mostly.”  
“No, but that’s not a bad idea.” Carmilla says and everyone looks at her surprised, “Not the weeping part. Some sort of social gathering or party between the two sides, getting them interacting with one another, getting them to see they’re not so different.”  
LaFontaine thinks and then says, “That might work. We could start a social club, like humans and supernaturals united or whatever, we can work on the name, and throw parties, mixers, social events, information sessions, etc, to try and get the two sides to come together.”  
“So we’ll create an organization, something with two functions, to keep the peace on the campus itself and to create an environment of understanding and understanding for the two sides.” Danny says, “That means we need to go before the Student Association and pitch the idea.”  
“I know the head of the student association.” LaFontaine says, “He’s pretty chill or should I say pretty grounded.” They give a small laugh and everyone looks at them confused. They look around the room and then realize their mistake, “Oh right, I’m pretty sure he’s a rå- bergsrå.” Everyone still looks at them confused and LaFontaine groans and shakes their head, “He’s a mountain guardian.” Everyone nods in understanding now, but no one laughs and LaFontaine mutters something to themselves about how they thought they were funny and how explaining a joke ruins it, then they continue, “So, he’s one of the supernatural, so he should be all for this kind of club, hopefully.”  
“We just need to come up with a proposal then.” Gwen says, “And figure out who should go and speak before the student association.”  
“I think it should be Danny and Carmilla.” LaFontaine says. Both Danny and Carmilla laugh, until they realize LaFontaine is being serious.  
“You’re joking right?” Carmilla asks.  
“You can’t be serious.” Danny says at nearly the same time.  
“I’m not kidding.” LaFontaine says.  
They both stare at them incredulous and then Danny says, “Practically everyone on campus knows…”  
“About our mutual dislike for one another.” Carmilla finishes.  
“I was going to say how much we hate each other, but sure.” Danny says.  
“That’s the point, everyone knows how much you…dislike one another, but if you two can come together on this, then they’ll know we’re serious, they’ll know this is important.” LaFontaine says, “And that we can use to our advantage. If the two of you, one supernatural, one human, who have legendary animosity towards one another, can work together, can find some kind of peace, then that sends a message. It sends a message that there is hope for the rest of us, the rest of campus.”  
“Lead by example.” Perry groans out.  
Danny and Carmilla look at each other, scowl, but then nod.  
“So you’re saying the fate of this campus rests on whether or not these two can work together?” Gwen asks and LaFontaine nods, “We’re doomed.”


	13. ...well

Four days after their little group meeting Carmilla finds herself at a table in one of the Silas food courts with LaFontaine, Danny, and the head of the Silas Student Association, Victor Gruber, a short, squat, broad shouldered man, with a thick, black beard, dark eyes, and wide, craggy features. His accent is heavy, his voice is deep and gruff, and he looks overall very intimidating. However, his demeanor is bright and friendly despite his hard features.  
“It’s wonderful to meet all of you.” Victor says showing large, square white teeth, “Truly wonderful. I have heard many great things about the lot of you and what you’ve done for this campus, so first, before we begin, let me extend my gratitude. If it wasn’t for you…well I have a feeling we’d all be much worse off to say the least. And my boyfriend, my dear Aki, would have well…he’d be much worse off too.”   
Carmilla grunts in response and Danny says, “Glad we could help.”  
Victor smiles again and then claps his hands together, “So, now what brings all of you here to meet me? LaFontaine mentioned it has to do with a new club or organization you are considering. I’ll have you know that as head of the student association I get pitched a lot of ideas for new clubs and while some are good, some are…well let’s just say some are less good. So what have you got for me today?”  
“I assume you’ve noticed the new rules this campus has implemented.” Carmilla says gesturing to the green badge on Victor’s shirt with a three on it.   
Victor looks down at his badge and for the first time his pleasant manner changes and a shadow is cast across his face, making it look even more sinister, “Yes, I have indeed noticed the changes.” He rumbles out before looking back up at the group, his smile returning.  
“The organization that runs this school has separated us, in an attempt to integrate us.” Carmilla says, “And it’s as stupid as it sounds. It won’t work. We need to help it along.”  
“There are many on this campus who are afraid of the supernatural element.” Danny says, “We want to show them that there is nothing to be afraid of. That the supernatural students are just students like the rest of us.”  
“So we propose an idea for a social action club or group or organization that has the dual purpose of keeping tensions between the sides down around campus and learning and interacting in a safe space.” LaFontaine says, “We haven’t come up with a name for the club yet, but that’s the gist of it.”  
“What do you think?” Danny asks.  
Victor looks at them and doesn’t say a word for what feels like a solid five minutes, but is probably much less before he finally speaks and says, “I think it’s a fantastic idea!” They all breathe a sigh of relief.  
“You had me worried there for a second Rocky.” Carmilla says.  
“Don’t call me Rocky.” Victor says and then continues, “This campus is in need of something like this, something that’s….well something that’ll create a better environment for everyone. I think your club can do just that.”  
“So is that it?” Danny asks, “Do we have permission? Can we get started?”  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Victor says holding up his hands, “This isn’t official approval or anything like that. This is just me saying it’s a good idea. You still have to bring it before the full student board with a full proposal. You need to fill out the proper forms, read through the guidelines, and then present the board your idea. We’ll deliberate on it and then once we reach an agreement, then you can begin your club.”  
“Well, how long will that take?” LaFontaine asks.  
“At least a month.” Victor says.  
“A month!” Carmilla shouts, “We can’t wait a month! This campus will have torn itself a part in a month!”  
Victor thinks for a moment, scratching at his beard, and then says, “You have a point. Okay, here’s what I can do. If you can fill out the forms and have a proposal ready, I can bump you to the top of the queue and have you before the board tomorrow. Then, the board will have to discuss the proposal, which will take at least a week. That’s the best I can do.”  
Carmilla scowls, but nods, “Tomorrow it is then.”  
Victor nods and then gets up from the table, “Well if that’s all, I best be going. I have to inform the board we’ll be meeting tomorrow. Does tomorrow at say, six, work for you?”  
They all look at one another and nod.  
“Alright then, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Victor tells them, “Good luck with everything.” He then walks off.  
“Do you think this campus can hold itself together for a week?” Danny asks after Victor leaves.  
LaFontaine and Carmilla look at one another and they both shrug. LaFontaine replies, “A week is a long time. A lot can happen in a week.”  
“But it’ll have to hold.” Carmilla says, “Otherwise we’re screwed.”  
“We can still throw that party.” Danny says, “Kirsch’s idea, whether we’re an official club or not. That should be something.”  
“Hopefully that’ll tide us over until then.” Carmilla says as she gets up from the table, “Anyway, some of you have a proposal to work on.”  
“Some of us?” Danny asks, “You’re working on this too.”  
“Some of us have better things to do.” Carmilla says as she leaves the table.  
“Like what?! Where are you going?” Danny shouts after her, but Carmilla ignores her as she walks away, “Hey! Dead girl! Where are you going!?”   
“I’ll see you later tonight to go over it.” Carmilla calls back and heads towards the doors of the food court, leaving a fuming Danny and amused LaFontaine behind. Before exiting thought, Carmilla spots a male mediator quickly leaving their table and scampering out a side door as soon as Carmilla begins to leave. She doesn’t know who it is, but she suspects whoever it was, was probably eavesdropping on their conversation. What they heard and what they’d do with that information, Carmilla didn’t know, but she suspected it wasn’t anything good.


	14. Lower Levels

Carmilla spends the next few hours, before she has to meet up with the dimwit squad again, wandering around campus. If one of the others asked her, she’d probably say she was scouting for trouble, potential problem areas, looking to see where tensions were at their worst. But in reality, she wasn’t doing any of that, she was looking for Laura. She did the same thing yesterday and the day before that and the day before that and she planned on doing it every day, for the rest of her life if she had to, although she hoped that wasn’t the case.   
So far she had searched the main campus, the north woods, and parts of the outer edges of the campus with no luck. In the process she had gotten into two heated arguments with groups of mediators and one particularly grumpy poltergeist, a fight with some forest elves which caused her to be chased out of the woods, and a mishap with the alchemy club again which caused her to speak in rhyme for half a day. She wasn’t trying to get into trouble, but her lack of success was wearing on her, causing her patience to run thin and her temper to flare. She had expected to find something, anything by now.  
At first she had hoped to spot Laura in the crowd, maybe hear her voice, or smell her scent. At one point, Carmilla thought she had smelled her and had rushed towards the smell, only to find a girl that wasn’t Laura, a mediator, who most likely just had a similar body lotion.  
So Carmilla continued to search, but as time passed by and the wider Carmilla’s search went, she began to lose hope of actually seeing Laura and just began to hope for any clue as to what happened to her girlfriend. Some sign or shred of evidence that Laura was here on this campus somewhere. But so far she had found nothing. No one she asked had seen or heard from Laura since last semester either. It was like she had vanished without a trace.  
And that made her worry even more, and that worry made her irritable, more than irritable, it made her incredibly ill-tempered and ready to go off at any moment. Which was exactly the opposite of how she wanted to be acting right now and she was really trying to control herself, but there was only so much she could take.   
So instead of dealing with people today, she had decided to do something a bit more…reckless. Today Carmilla was going to search a more dangerous area of the campus, the library. She had secretly hoped that she would find Laura before having to search there, but with no luck anywhere else, she knew that eventually she’d have to venture into the depths of the dreaded place.   
Carmilla looks up towards the sky and sees the sun sinking lower. It was two hours until nightfall. She would take those two hours to search the upper levels of the library. Once it was dark, the lower levels would appear and she would search those.   
There were few things Carmilla was afraid of as a centuries old vampire, but the lower levels of the library were one of them. Filled with all manner of dark magic, dangerous creatures, and malevolent entities, the library, especially the lower levels, was one place one did not want to venture often. But there was something that Carmilla feared more than the library and that was losing Laura. So she would travel into its darkest depths, fight off all manner of beast, demon, and spirit if she had to, if that’s what it took to get Laura back.  
Like she planned, she spent the first two hours scouring the upper levels for clues, hoping she wouldn’t have to go below. She even went to the librarians and asked for help. Even though she and the librarians didn’t have the best relationship, especially since she had helped cause massive damage to the library last semester, but still, no luck.  
So, as soon as the sun set and the door to the basement levels appeared in a random location, she found herself down there, wandering a maze of strange rooms and hallways, feeling like this was even more futile than her other searches.  
The lower levels of the library were huge or they were constantly changing or both. Either way, she’d rarely been to the same room twice. She also wasn’t sure if the entire lower levels existed all at the same time or it just appeared around her as she moved through it. Not that she particularly cared.   
The first room she enters is relatively normal as this library went. It is a medium sized room filled with shelves of books, like a library should be. As she walks through the stacks she looks at the titles and authors, but they appear to be random, there doesn’t appear to be anything that ties them together. She moves to the back of the room where the next door is and looks back once at the books. She notices that all the books are bound in a strange, brown leather of some kind, but beyond that there is nothing particularly strange about this room. She shrugs, opens the door to the next room, and continues on.  
As she travels she encounters mostly hallways and rooms that hold no particular interest to her. They seem to be just regular rooms, albeit in every size and shape, filled with regular books, also in every size and shape. Some are filled with books all the same color, some with books all by the same author, and some actually organized properly using the Dewey decimal system. There is one room entirely filled with scrolls and another with large, stone tablets. There is one where the books are huge, the largest being half her height, while another room has books so small they could fit in the palm of her hand. This is the first room she encounters something more out of the ordinary, as she hears soft, angry chattering and what sounds like tiny footsteps. She quickly moves on.   
As she moves deeper into the lower levels, things start to become stranger and more dangerous. She encounters a room with floating books, a hallway where the books seem to be angry, and a large room that contains only one book locked behind a glass cabinet with no title, author, or indication of what it is.   
She comes across rooms with windows, with light shining through it even though she’s underground. She looks through one of the windows once and sees a sandy beach with crystal clear waters lapping up against the shore. A part of her wonders if she’s still in Austria this very instant, but shrugs it off and moves on.   
She comes across a room with large slime trails along the floor and walls, but no creature to produce them. She hears a soft, whispering female voice in another, but no owner to it. And in the next, a room with what appears to be the bones of all manner of creatures, including some human looking remains, but fortunately nothing to eat her.  
Of course, in all the rooms she doesn’t find Laura or any sign of Laura either, which makes the knot in her stomach grow tighter. And to make matters worse, the entire time she has been below she has this feeling like she’s being watched. A few times out of the corner of her eye, she swears she spots something moving, a shadow or something. But when she turns to look, there is nothing there.  
All the while, she also finds signs that she may not be the only one down here. She sees recent blood splatter on some walls, she hears on occasion heavy footsteps and even sometimes a few screams, and once she even finds the crushed and shattered remains of what might have been a walkie talkie. But she never actually sees who else is here.   
She enters into the next room and stops dead in her tracks. The room itself is large in size and average looking, except for the fact that it is partially filled with murky, brown water. It is like a natural, underground lake has formed in the middle of the library, and Carmilla is standing on the shore. It’s the first room Carmilla’s been in where she doesn’t see any books. There is a door at the far end of the room, across the water, and a small, narrow, floating, wooden bridge that leads there.   
And there are remains, human remains, scattered along the edge of the water, an arm here, a foot there, lots of blood and guts. They look to Carmilla like leftovers that have just washed ashore from whatever creature is lurking below the surface. She looks some more and sees machine parts as well, twisted metal and plastic, even what might have been a harpoon of some kind, but most of its so damaged that she can’t begin to guess what it might have once been. And it all looks rather recent.  
Carmilla takes one look at the dark, dirty water, the narrow bridge that’s more like a dock that stretches across the water, and the remains and says, “Fuck that.” She turns around to leave through the door she entered; hoping to maybe find another way through when she finds the door is gone. She leaps towards the wall and runs her hand along it, searching for the door or any way out, but finds nothing.   
As she’s searching the wall for a potentially hidden door she hears a splashing noise behind her. She whips around and crouches into a fighting stance, preparing or any kind of attack. But nothing has come out of the water, nothing is coming towards her to attack, she doesn’t even see where the splash was made.   
She stands there for several moments just watching the water, her senses on high alert. That feeling of being watched grows stronger and she can’t help, but feel like she’s being led into a trap. But she knows she has to go forward, across the bridge, and to the far door if she wants to get out of here, if she wants to find Laura.  
So she takes a deep breath she doesn’t need, mumbles a few curses to herself, and then begins to stride across with nonchalance, determined to show that she wasn’t afraid of anything. She makes it halfway across the bridge when she hears the splashing again. She turns to her right and her eyes widen as a large tentacle comes charging out of the water towards her. It slams into the side of the bridge, smashing the wooden boards causing the bridge to tilt, and buck under her feet. She loses her footing, literally as the bridge collapses underneath her and she is flung into the inky water, with a resounding splash.


	15. Leviathan

The water is dark, she can barely see. Even with her superior vision, not enough light is entering to let her see more than a few feet in front of her. Panic begins to set in, but she pushes it down as she surges towards what she hopes is the surface. After a few terrifying seconds she reaches the surface and blinks a few times, trying to get her bearings. The door is off to her left and she doesn’t hesitate to begin swimming towards it.  
She takes two strokes before she feels something moving below her. She looks down, but can’t see anything. She attempts to leap to the side to get away, but can’t move fast enough as she feels something wrap around her ankle. She kicks out, but misses and then there is a sharp tug as she is yanked below the surface once again. Darkness surrounds her once more, but as she looks down to see what has a hold of her, she gets a sense of the size of the creature. A dark, looming mass, fills her vision, and although she can’t make out the details, she sees that it stretches farther than she can see. To put it frankly, the thing is massive.  
And it’s continuing to pull her farther and farther down towards it, which isn’t too concerning for Carmilla since she doesn’t have to breathe, but she’d rather not be eaten by some monstrosity in the depths of the library. She focuses on teleporting away, thinking about the shore, the upper levels, her room even, but nothing seems to work. Her teleporting ability always was a bit wonky in the lower levels of the library, but she was hoping here in this instant it wouldn’t abandon her. But no such luck.   
So she reaches down and grabs onto the tentacle wrapped around her ankle and pulls hard on it. She loosens its grip some, but not enough to get her ankle free. So she decides to try for a more aggressive approach.   
She partially transforms her right arm into her panther form, extends her claws, and then rakes those claws against the tentacle. The creature lets out a thunderous bellow of pain as she slices through the slimy tentacle and frees herself. She then swims towards the surface as fast as she can, rocketing forward through the water like a torpedo.   
But once again, she isn’t fast enough as several more tentacles fly through the water towards her. She dodges the first, slashes at the second, but gets her arm wrapped up in the third. The tentacle is rough, and she feels strange barbs along it that cut into her flesh as it holds onto her. When the barbs dig in, a strange tingling sensation goes through her for a moment. She pays it no mind though as she slices through the tentacle again with her clawed hand.  
She escapes once more and attempts again to get to the surface. But as she begins to swim, she finds herself growing sluggish. Her movements are slower, her arms begin to grow tired, her vision blurs and becomes even worse, and something in her chest begins to ache. She can feel panic begin to set in again and her swimming becomes more desperate, but the harder she pushes herself, the more exhausted she becomes. She feels weak and lightheaded and feels like she’s about to pass out when she breaks the surface of the water.  
She reflexively opens her mouth and gasps in air, the ache in her chest already beginning to lessen. She gulps in three breaths of air, her light headedness and weariness slowly disappearing, when she realizes something rather disturbing, she shouldn’t need to breathe at all. And yet, here she is, sucking in air as if her body suddenly requires it.   
She looks around the room and finds that it has grown darker, not completely pitch black, but it’s as if the light has dimmed some. It’s as if her night vision has gotten worse, but not disappeared completely.   
Before she can speculate on what the hell is going on she feels movement once again beneath her feet. She launches herself forward and starts to swim towards the remains of the bridge. Her arms feel heavier, her strokes feel less powerful, but she knows she’s still swimming faster than any human, just not as fast as she normally does.   
She feels something brush against her leg, but kicks out at it, this time connecting before it can wrap her up again. She makes it to the bridge and grabs the edge, placing her hands on the wood and pushing herself up onto it. She’s halfway out of the water when three more tentacles surge out towards her. One slams into the bridge behind her, smashing it to pieces. The second smacks into her side, sending her sprawling along the intact portion of the bridge, and the third wraps around her leg again, this time coiling up her entire leg, instead of just her ankle.   
She slashes forward with her right hand in an attempt to claw at the tentacle again, but finds that her hand as inexplicably transformed back to its human form. She attempts to transform it back to its panther form once again, but finds that’s she’s struggling to do so. She doesn’t have time to even curse at her misfortune before the tentacle pulls at her hard.   
Carmilla just barely manages to grab onto the far edge of the bridge and hold on before the tentacle tries to drag her back to the water. Carmilla feels the panic turn to outright fear because she knows if she gets pulled back into the water, with her need to breathe all of sudden, she may not make it back out alive…or undead.   
The creatures pulls, but she’s still stronger than most and holds her own, although she can feel the bones in her leg and arms beginning to stretch. Then a thought occurs to her and she really hopes this ability of hers hasn’t also mysteriously disappeared. She focuses her vision on the tentacle wrapped around her leg and feels her power flow through her. A few seconds later the tentacle bursts into flames and Carmilla can hear a deep and ominous bellow from below the surface of the water.   
The tentacle releases her and she’s up and running along the bridge in seconds. She feels the bridge sway underneath her and spots something massive moving just below the surface. She begins to run faster, huffing and puffing as she goes.   
A mass of tentacles comes out of the water first, smashing down just behind her as she runs, and attempting to snag her before sliding back into the water. Then there is silence for several seconds, the water grows still, and the hairs on the back of Carmilla’s neck begin to stand up. But she can see the far shore, the door ahead of her, she’s almost there.   
And then a dark shadow appears beneath her, she sees it growing closer, and she makes the split second decision to dive backward and into the water. Just as she does a massive mouth, full of huge, razor sharp teeth bursts through the water, and clamps down around the bridge where she was standing moments before, smashing it into splinters, and drawing it down back below the surface of the water.   
Carmilla swims as fast as she can towards the shore, knowing the creature is right behind her. She makes it to where she can stand, slogs through the water, sprints towards the far door, wrenches it open, and dives through. She sees just a glimpse of hundreds of writhing tentacles racing towards the door as she slams it closed.   
She leans back against the door, breathing hard, and slumps down to the floor. It’s the first time, in a long time that she’s been out of breath. She closes her eyes and calms herself before opening them again and looking around the room. The room is small and cozy looking, with large, comfortable armchairs, thick plush carpeting, lit lanterns hanging from the walls, and even a fireplace with a roaring fire inside. There are a few bookshelves along the walls filled with large, leather bound books with various titles and a smoky, slightly musty smell to the room.   
As Carmilla stands up she has the passing thought that Laura would love a room like this. She slowly gets to her feet and then winces as she feels where the tentacle had slammed into her side. She wonders if it broke a few ribs and then wonders again how it broke her ribs. Either way, she’d have a nasty bruise later.  
She takes another deep breath and feels that satisfying feeling of having air in her lungs as she once did when she was alive. She reaches her fingers up to feel her pulse at her neck, but finds she still doesn’t have one and it doesn’t seem like her heart is beating in her chest. It’s like she’s partway between being human and being a vampire. But as the seconds tick by she finds her aches and pains fading, the room grows brighter, and that satisfying feeling of breathing becoming less satisfying.   
After about five minutes or so, she feels like herself again, and feels up for finding a way out of this blasted library. She takes a step forward and then, what must have been an illusion around the room, suddenly drops and she finds herself standing on the edge of a cliff, inside a humongous, cavernous room, looking out into a dark void.  
“Hello vampire.” A sinister voice says from the darkness.


	16. A conversation

Carmilla is now officially angry. She just fought off some giant, tentacle water monster, after experiencing some startling transformations, and now that she’s finally back to normal and ready to head home, she’s faced with this. She doesn’t want to deal with this right now.  
“Who the hell are you and what do you want?” Carmilla asks out into the darkness. She can see something moving or maybe the shadows themselves moving, but she can’t make out any shape or form.  
“You know who I am.” The voice says.  
“No, I don’t.” Carmilla says.  
“If you do not know now, than you will, in time.” The voice replies.  
“I am not in the mood for this cryptic bullshit. I am never in the mood for cryptic bullshit.” Carmilla says, “So cut the crap and tell me.”  
“But that makes things so much less fun.” The voice says and lets out a small laugh.  
Carmilla growls and then says, “Fine, fuck it, I don’t care. I’m out of here. I don’t care if I have to face that giant calamari monster again; I am not playing any games.” She turns towards the door to find it has disappeared once again. She groans, “This is bullshit.” She turns back towards the voice, “Where’s the door, how do I get out of here?”  
“The door will appear when I wish it to appear.” The voice says.  
“So you’re holding me hostage?” Carmilla says, “I’ll have you know I don’t take too kindly to that, Voldemort.”  
“I am not holding you hostage. I will let you go. But we have to have a conversation first.” The voice says, “We have so much to talk about.”  
“Great, a chatty demonic spirit, just what I need right now.” Carmilla mutters, “Fine, what do you want to talk about?”  
“You come here with questions. I have answers to questions.” The voice says.  
Carmilla pauses for a second and frowns, “Are you telling me you know where Laura is?”  
“Laura? Laura? Who is this Laura? Which Laura? I know many named Laura.” The voice says.  
“Laura Hollis.” Carmilla says, “Small, blondish, has a penchant for getting herself into trouble.”  
“Ah yes, that one.” The voice says, “We have met before.”  
Carmilla feels anger bubble up from within, “Did you do something to her!?”  
“Did I? Did I do something to her….it depends on your definition….” The voice says.  
“If you hurt her I will kill you. I will rip out your shadowy throat and shove it up your shadowy ass.” Carmilla snarls out.  
The voice lets out an unconcerned laugh and says, “You have a fire in you. I like that about you Miss Karnstein, it’s very…appealing.”  
“Thanks, but I’m taken.” Carmilla says, “And also not into shadowy demon figures…or men.”  
“Not what I meant.” The voice says.  
“Don’t care. What did you do to Laura?” Carmilla asks.  
“I am not the reason she is missing, if that is what you are asking.” The voice replies.  
“Then do you know where she is?” Carmilla asks.  
“I do not.” The voice replies.  
“Then this was a thorough waste of my time.” Carmilla says, turning away from the voice and looking for an exit.  
“I may not know where she is…but I can find out.” The voice tells her and Carmilla turns back around, interested.  
“Alright, where is she?” Carmilla asks.  
“Ah, ah, ah, do you think I answer questions for nothing?” The voice asks, “You want something, I want something, I think we can come to an arrangement.”  
“Alright, what’s it going to cost me, my humanity?” Carmilla asks, “Cause I think you’re a little late on that one. Or perhaps my soul? My happiness? My voice?”  
The voice laughs, “Nothing as sinister as all that. I think you watch too many movies my dear. I want nothing from you, but your assistance.”  
“You want my help?” Carmilla asks, “With what?”  
“I need your help in freeing me.” The voice says.  
“Freeing you? So, you’re trapped here?” Carmilla asks.  
“I am.” The voice says, “But you could let me free.”  
“Hmm, so we have an ominous shadowy figure, trapped in an ancient and forgotten room, possibly guarded by a giant tentacle monster, below the surface of what can only be described as the library from hell on a supernaturally active campus and said shadowy figure wants me to let it free in exchange for what, my hearts deepest desire? Yeah, no, that’s not going to happen.” Carmilla says, “I’ve lived on this Earth far too long to fall into that trap.”  
The voice laughs again and says, “You do watch too many movies, I was right. Well then I am sorry, I cannot answer your question, I cannot tell you where your girlfriend is.”  
“Remember that whole, ripping out your throat and shoving it up your ass thing, yeah that’s still on the table.” Carmilla snarls out, “I am not someone to be trifled with, especially when you come between me and my girl.”  
“I am not someone you can threaten vampire.” The voice says, “I cannot be scared or intimidated. Nor can I be pleaded, begged, or bartered with. My terms are clear. If you free me, I will tell you where your Laura is.”  
Carmilla thinks for a moment. A part of her wants nothing more than to find Laura. Perhaps a year ago she wouldn’t have cared what happened and she would have let this creature out, just to get something that she wanted. But that was a year ago and a lot has happened in a year, she’s not the same person she was then and she knows that has a lot to do with the girl she’s looking for. A girl who would be very pissed at her if she found out Carmilla had let out some all-powerful evil just so find her. She isn’t that desperate…yet.  
“No, I don’t think so. But thanks anyway.” Carmilla tells the voice.  
“So be it vampire.” The voice says, “I can wait. Because you will come back to me eventually.”  
“I really don’t think so.” Carmilla says.  
“How long can you wait, not knowing?” The voice asks, “How long before the worry eats away at you and you come crawling back here, begging me to tell you where your love is? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Can you wait that long? Does she have that long? It doesn’t matter because someday you will come back here in desperation, whether it is a day from now or a thousand days from now and you will release me.”  
“Not if I find her first.” Carmilla says.  
“Yes, not if you find her first.” The voice replies, but it doesn’t sound like it thinks that’s plausible.  
“So is that it? Is that all you wanted to talk about?” Carmilla asks, “Because I have a presentation I have to get back to, and it’d be nice if I wasn’t trapped in a dark cavern talking to a faceless entity for all eternity, you know?”   
The voice laughs again, “You amuse me vampire, I’ll give you that. But that is not all I wished to discuss. However, since you have decided not to free me, much of which I had planned to tell you, I cannot. But I can say this, there is more below the surface. It is just a façade; the real plan is much darker.”  
“What the hell does that mean?” Carmilla asks.  
“Like I said, I cannot tell you.” The voice replies, “Not while I am trapped here.”  
“Well then you’re no help to me at all.” Carmilla snaps.  
“You could always free me.” The voice replies.  
“Not going to happen, Doom and Gloom.” Carmilla says, “Not going to happen.”  
“I had to try.” The voice says, “Alright vampire, you are free to go.” Carmilla turns around and sees the door has reappeared behind her.  
“This isn’t going to lead back into that room with the leviathan is it?” Carmilla asks, but when she turns back around she finds she’s in the cozy room again, the fire is still going and she swears she can smell something like baking cookies. She shakes her head and turns back towards the door. She hesitates, her hand hovering over the doorknob. She sighs and then pulls open the door quickly, getting ready for a fight, but on the other side are the upper levels of the library.   
She breathes a sigh of relief as she steps through the door and out into the stacks. She looks behind her and finds the door she’s stepped through is gone.  
“That is just super annoying.” Carmilla says.


	17. Reprimand

By the time Carmilla leaves the library it is past midnight, not that this bothered her, she preferred the night. However, as per the new rules of this campus, anyone level four or above had a curfew at ten. And while normally breaking the rules was not only something she didn’t care about, but sometimes actively enjoyed, she was tired, angry, and disappointed and she really didn’t want to get into an altercation with any mediators.  
So she slunk back to her room in the shadows, avoiding anyone and everyone, as if she were a criminal or well, a creature of the night.  
She made it back to her room and opened the door to find LaFontaine still in there. LaFontaine was still awake, sitting at the desk, working.  
They turn around in the chair as Carmilla opens the door.  
“Where have you been?” LaFontaine asks.  
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were my parent now.” Carmilla snaps.  
“Oh come off it.” LaFontaine replies, “It was just a question. I can’t be worried about you?” They look Carmilla up and down and scowl, “Especially since it looks like you were beat up by a car wash.” Carmilla growls, but shuts the door, and says, “Fine. You can be worried. But I don’t have to care.” She then walks over to the closet and pulls out a towel to begin drying herself.   
“Fine.” LaFontaine replies, “Now, you want to tell me what happened? It looks like you got into a fight. Do we have something to worry about? Did you start something?”  
Carmilla shoots them a glare and then says, “No, I didn’t start anything. I’m not an idiot. I’ve been on my best behavior when it comes to all this.”  
“Oh, this is your best behavior?” LaFontaine asks, “Getting into trouble, sneaking in past curfew, being antagonistic overall? I’ve heard that you’ve nearly come to blows with mediators, twice and you somehow managed to piss off the forest elves and the alchemy club again. Those are allies we might need in the future. We’re trying to work to make this campus a better place and we can’t do that if one, you don’t help us, two you get caught, three….could you not get undressed like right now?” They ask as Carmilla begins to strip down out of her wet clothes.  
“This is my room that you’re in.” Carmilla says, “So therefore I can get naked in here whenever I want. If you have a problem, you could always leave.”  
“Fine, whatever, what was I saying?” LaFontaine asks.  
“You were reprimanding me like a child.” Carmilla replies.  
“Right, three, if you put yourself in danger all on your own.” LaFontaine says and then points to a large, nasty bruise forming on Carmilla’s side, “That looks like you have broken ribs. I can’t think of anything that could hit you hard enough to do that.”  
“It’s nothing.” Carmilla says quickly throwing on a shirt, “It’s not anything to worry about.”  
LaFontaine stands up and walks towards her, grabbing Carmilla by the arm, “And four, if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”  
Carmilla pulls her arm away and glares at LaFontaine. LaFontaine glares right back. They stare at each other for thirty seconds before Carmilla finally lets out a sigh and shakes her head.  
“Fine, I’ve been looking for Laura.” Carmilla tells them.  
“Okay.” LaFontaine says, “In an underwater gladiator ring?”  
Carmilla quirks a smile and shakes her head, “No, in the library.”  
LaFontaine blanches and then smacks Carmilla upside the head, “Dude, what’re you thinking!? You went on a search through the library, by yourself? Don’t tell me you went into the lower levels?” Carmilla is silent and then continues to get dressed. LaFontaine waits for a response, “Well?”  
“You told me not to tell you if I went into the lower levels.” Carmilla says slyly, “And if there’s one thing I would never do, is lie.”  
LaFontaine snorts and shakes their head, “You are the biggest, love struck, masochistic idiot I have ever met. You can’t save Laura if you get yourself killed, moron.”  
“I know that.” Carmilla snaps back, “It wasn’t supposed to get so…”  
“Dangerous?” LaFontaine finishes, “It’s the library, it’s always dangerous. You know that better than anyone else.”  
“I can usually handle it, but something happened and…” Carmilla doesn’t finish, “It doesn’t matter, I made it out fine. Next time I’ll be more careful.”  
“Next time? Oh no way, you are not going back there alone. I saw that look on your face just now, you almost didn’t make it out of there.” LaFontaine says, “When we find Laura, I don’t want to have to be the one to explain to her that you died for her…again. I can’t be the one to tell her that. I don’t want to see that look on her face ever again.”  
“Fine, I won’t go back to the library. At least not without you guys as ‘back-up’. I don’t think she’s down there anyway.” Carmilla says.  
“Good, good.” LaFontaine says and then asks, “So, what happened?”  
Carmilla sighs and then tells LaFontaine everything that happened in the library, including the barbs from the leviathan creature, the sudden need to breathe, and the strange conversation she had with the shadowy figure.  
“Let me see your arm.” LaFontaine says and Carmilla shows them the long shallow cuts which haven’t healed yet from the creature’s tentacles, “I think the creature injected you with some kind of toxin or venom that caused those effects.”  
“It started to turn me human?” Carmilla asks.  
LaFontaine shrugs, “Or deactivated whatever made you a vampire, but yeah essentially.” They inspect Carmilla’s arm and then rush over to their back to pull out some tweezers, a vial, and some gauze.  
“What is that for?” Carmilla asks.  
“You still have bits of the barbs lodged in your skin and some of the venom may still be in the area. I’m going to take some samples, and inspect them.” LaFontaine says and begins to work on Carmilla’s arm.   
“How are you feeling? You said it was temporary, that after about five minutes or so you began to revert back to yourself.” LaFontaine asks.  
Carmilla nods, “Yeah, it didn’t last very long, but long enough that I was almost monster food.” LaFontaine nods as they work.  
There is silence for several minutes and then Carmilla asks, “How is it going with Perry?”  
LaFontaine’s face falls as they shake their head, “Not great. She’s feeling a bit better, but it still makes her feel sick. And I can’t seem to figure out how to make it stop doing that without deactivating the whole thing.”  
“I’m sorry.” Carmilla says as LaFontaine finishes up and puts the sample away, they then pull out a small medical kit.  
“I’ll figure it out.” LaFontaine says, “I have to.”  
“I’m sure you will brainiac.” Carmilla says.  
LaFontaine nods and then says, “Alright, lift up your shirt.”  
“Hey, whoa, I thought you said you didn’t want me undressing.” Carmilla says.  
“I need to check out your ribs.” LaFontaine says with an exasperated sigh, “For a vampire who claims to have graduated college upwards of a dozen times you can be pretty dense sometimes.”  
Carmilla grumbles something about eating redheads and lifts up her shirt.   
LaFontaine goes through their med kit and begins to inspect Carmilla’s ribs. They run their fingers along the bruise and Carmilla sucks in air as they do so.  
“Does that hurt?” LaFontaine asks surprised.  
“Yeah, a bit.” Carmilla grunts out.  
“Huh, it’s a bit odd that when the toxin wore off your ribs didn’t heal.” LaFontaine says, “Or the scratches on your arm.”  
“I haven’t had any blood, I’m hoping that it’ll speed up the healing process.” Carmilla says.  
“Can you take a breath for me?” LaFontaine asks and Carmilla takes a deep breath and winces as she does so, “Hmm, yeah, probably fractured. That’ll hurt like a bitch for a while.”  
“Yeah, I noticed.” Carmilla grunts out.  
“So this shadowy figure, he asked you to release him?” LaFontaine asks as they continue to inspect Carmilla. They then nod and let Carmilla lower her shirt.  
“Yeah.” Carmilla replies, heading over to the fridge.  
“Why didn’t you?” LaFontaine asks and Carmilla looks at them surprised.  
“I thought it was obvious. Releasing this unknown demonic entity that’s trapped in the library seems pretty stupid to me.” Carmilla says and then grabs the soy milk container from the fridge.  
“Oh it is, majorly stupid.” LaFontaine says, “But it offered to tell you where Laura is, I’m just surprised you passed that up.”  
“Well, like I said, it’s stupid.” Carmilla replies, “Who knows what kind of consequences it could have.” She then begins to drink out of the container.  
“You’re usually not one to care too much for consequences.” LaFontaine says, “At least not when it comes to Laura.”  
Carmilla takes several gulps of blood and then turns back to LaFontaine, “What do you want me to say? Are you upset that I did the right thing?”  
“No, I’m just curious as to why.” LaFontaine says.  
“I don’t know.” Carmilla says with a shrug and then looks at her feet, “I guess I just pictured what Laura would say if I did it and how mad she would be and besides, there are…” She clears her throat looking more awkward than LaFontaine has ever seen her, “…other people I care about besides her that could be hurt if I…well you get the point.” Carmilla then snaps her eyes up to LaFontaine’s, “And if you say one word about me being a softie I will march right back down to that ultimate evil thing and release hell on this earth, you hear me, nerdlinger?”  
LaFontaine smirks, but does the zipped lip motion and shakes their head up and down in agreement.  
“Good.” Carmilla says and takes a smaller sip of blood.  
“So, what do you think Mr. Big Bad meant by the whole, more than meets the eye, façade thing?” LaFontaine asks, “Cause I’m thinking that has to do with…”  
“The organization that’s running this campus and the Dean?” Carmilla finishes.  
LaFontaine nods, “Yeah, exactly. I’m thinking he meant that this whole assimilation program is all…”  
“Bullshit?” Carmilla finishes.  
“I was going to say a farce, but bullshit is probably more appropriate.” Lafontaine says.  
“They say they want us to join together in harmony and sing kumbaya in a drum circle or whatever, but this thing seems to hint that this isn’t their real goal.” Carmilla says.  
“So the question is, what is their real goal?” LaFontaine asks.  
“I have no idea.” Carmilla says, “But it can’t be anything good.”  
“No it probably isn’t.” LaFontaine says.  
“Great.” Carmilla grumbles, “Just great.”


	18. All in favor?

The next day the group meets in Carmilla’s room again and decides to skip class to work on their proposal some more. Carmilla is lying on her bed, bored out of her mind as Danny and LaFontaine argue about word choice and phrasing for the club constitution and Gwen and Perry work on the PowerPoint for the presentation.  
“We don’t need a director of events. That stuff can fall under the responsibility of the vice president or president.” Danny says, “I say we stick to the traditional, president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary. If we need to expand later we can.”  
“What about a multimedia director or my preferred title, webmaster?” LaFontaine asks, “Someone needs to be in charge of our online presence.”  
“Eh, I don’t know.” Danny says.  
“We agreed this was an important part of our club’s responsibilities.” LaFontaine says.  
Danny thinks for a moment and then shrugs, “Fine, multimedia director sounds fine. We’re not calling it a webmaster though.”  
“Why not?” LaFontaine asks.  
“Cause it sounds like a cheesy, 80’s cartoon superhero, not the person who is the head of our ‘online presence’ or however you phrased it.” Danny counters.  
“What!? It does not! It sounds awesome!” LaFontaine says sounding offended, “And as the person who is most likely to end up as webmaster I think that I should have a say in what to call myself.”  
“Fine then, all in favor of calling the person in charge of all online activities multimedia director?” Danny asks and gets four aye’s, then she waits and asks, “All opposed?” She gets one aye from LaFontaine who then pouts, and she proceeds, “Motion passed. The new name for officer in charge of our online activities is Multimedia Director.”  
“Oh come on!” LaFontaine yells, “We haven’t even decided on how we’re voting yet! That can’t be official.”  
“All in favor of using this system to vote on issues?” Danny asks and gets four aye’s, “All opposed?” She doesn’t get any, so she shrugs and says, “Motion passed, now it’s official.”  
“This is so not fair guys. Perr, come on, I can’t believe you of all people voted against me!” LaFontaine says turning towards Perry.  
“Well, I’m sorry sweetie, I’m only trying to do what I think is best for our new organization.” Perry says, “And webmaster does sound a little…”  
“Asinine.” Carmilla says.  
“I was going to say something a little bit more tactful, like silly.” Perry says, “But essentially.”  
LaFontaine makes a mock scoffing sound and says, “I am so hurt right now.”  
“I’m sorry sweetie.” Perry says and comes over to them, giving them a hug, “You can always call yourself webmaster in private. It could be like a secret codename.”  
LaFontaine brightens up at the idea and then says, “Alright fine, you’re probably right anyway.”  
“I always am, dear.” Perry says and goes back to working on the PowerPoint with Gwen.  
“What are we even going to name this club?” Gwen asks the group and they all shrug.  
“I was thinking on that.” LaFontaine says, “What about the Supernatural and Human Interaction, Education, and Logistics Division.”   
“Oooh, I like that.” Perry says with a smile.  
“We can’t use that.” Gwen says.  
“What? Why not?” LaFontaine asks with a smirk.  
“You know exactly why not.” Gwen says with a frown.  
“What? I don’t understand? Why can’t we use it?” Perry asks.  
“It spells out SHIELD.” Carmilla says, still flipping through her book.  
“And that’s bad?” Perry asks.  
“It’s copyright infringement.” Gwen says, “Marvel already owns that.”  
“Oh.” Perry says, “Well, then.”  
“But it totally works!” LaFontaine says, “And think of how cool it would be if our name was SHIELD.”  
“All in favor of breaking the law and having our club name be shield?” Danny asks and no one, but LaFontaine says aye, “All opposed?” Everyone else says Aye, “Motion denied.”  
“You guys suck.” LaFontaine says, “As the future Multimedia Officer, I say having a SHIELD Logo would look awesome, but whatever, you guys can be lame.”  
“So you’re going to be the Multimedia Officer.” Danny says pointing to LaFontaine, “That brings up the question of who’s going to be President.”  
“Not me.” Gwen says.  
“I’d rather not.” Perry says.  
“Yeah, no.” Danny says for herself.  
They all look to Carmilla who has been reading and ignoring them mostly. She realizes they’re all looking at her and she begins to shake her head, “Nope. No way. Have Clifford over there do it. She’s head of the Summer Society, she’s made for this kind of stuff.”  
“Yeah, that’s my point. I’m already head of the Summer Society and a TA and I have classes and I’m a part of numerous other clubs and activities. I don’t have time to also be the head of this club and do a good job. It needs careful handling and I don’t have time for that.” Danny says.  
“So quit your other things and do this.” Carmilla snaps, “This is more important.”  
“Sure, I could probably quit some of the other clubs, but I can’t stop going to classes or being a TA, and we need me to be head of the Summer Society, because we need the Summer Society as our allies. So, no matter what, I just won’t have the time for it.”  
Carmilla turns to Gwen and asks, “Why not you furface?”  
“I’m not so good with leading or public speaking.” Gwen says.  
“How not good?” Carmilla asks.  
“I throw up.” Gwen says.  
“But you sing in front of people!” Carmilla counters.  
“Yeah, singing is different. I can’t sing every time I need to give a speech to a crowd.” Gwen says.  
Carmilla groans and turns to Perry, “And you?”  
“I don’t like conflict.” Perry says.  
“I don’t like conflict either.” Carmilla replies and everyone laughs, “What? I don’t!”  
“Sure, sure.” LaFontaine says, “Besides, Perry is a Floor Don, she’s already got her hands full with that. And she’s…sick.”  
“Oh LaFontaine, don’t worry so much about that. I’m feeling much better than I was before.” Perry says.  
“When you’re still throwing up every morning, I wouldn’t say you’re better.” LaFontaine counters, “And until that stops happening, I will worry about it.”  
“You throw up every morning?” Carmilla asks.  
“Not…not every morning.” Perry says.  
“Every morning.” LaFontaine says, locking eyes with Carmilla.  
Carmilla sighs and groans, “Noooo, I didn’t want to do this. I can’t be in charge. This isn’t me.”  
“All in favor of Carmilla being President of this club.” Danny asks and she gets five aye’s, although one of them is very reluctant, “Alright, it’s official, you’re now President Carmilla.”  
“God, that’s terrifying.” Gwen says.  
“Shut up.” Carmilla grumbles.  
“I’m definitely going to write a song about this.” Gwen says, “It’ll be titled, ‘Carmilla: The Worst President Ever.’”  
“I said, shut up.” Carmilla says, glaring at her.  
“Eh, not sure about the title.” Gwen says, “It’s a work in progress.”  
“If you don’t shut up, I will kill you.” Carmilla snaps.  
Gwen leans over the two sitting on the floor working on the constitution, “So, have we decided on how we remove someone from office?”  
“I swear if you say one more thing about this…” Carmilla says laying her book down on her bed and sitting up.  
“I suggest perhaps, a coup?” Gwen offers.  
Carmilla snarls and jumps to her feet, “As my first order of business as President of this club, I am going to kill you.” She lunges at Gwen who laughs as she dodges her.  
“You have to catch me first!” Gwen taunts.  
“All in favor of me killing Gwen?” Carmilla shouts to the room and gets four Aye’s.  
“Hey!” Gwen shouts, “Not funny guys!” She shoots an annoyed look at Danny who just smiles and waves at her, “Danny? Seriously?”  
“You got this babe, I believe in you.” Danny says and goes back to working on the constitution with LaFontaine.  
“Motion passed!” Carmilla snarls, “I’m going to kill you!”


	19. The Vote

At 5:45 p.m., the entire group, including Kirsch, stands outside the Student Association office. Everyone looks incredibly nervous except Carmilla who looks as apathetic as usual and LaFontaine.  
“What if this doesn’t work? What if they reject it?” Perry asks, “What do we do then?”  
“Who cares?” Carmilla says grumpily. In reality, Carmilla is very nervous. It’s been a long time since she’s cared about anything and now she feels like she cares too much. But she can’t seem to help it. She wants this to work so badly because she can’t stand what’s going on, on this campus. But she’ll never admit that to anyone, she’ll never show it.  
“Don’t worry Perry, we have the head of the Student Association on our side.” LaFontaine says, “And Victor already thought it was an awesome idea.”  
“What about the other board members? What if they vote us down?” Perry asks, “The head of the student association is just one guy.”  
“There are seven members of the board, including the President, Victor. I know for a fact, three of them, besides Victor, are supernatural in origin.” LaFontaine says, “That’s four on our side and a majority vote, so it doesn’t matter if the others vote us down, we’ll still win. We just have to get in there, give a good presentation, and we’re set.”  
“I like your confidence LaFontaine.” Danny says, “We’re definitely going to kill it in there.”  
“I don’t know, it seems too easy. Nothing we have ever done has been this easy.” Perry says.  
“Don’t worry so much Perr, we got this. I promise.” LaFontaine says and then moves to wrap their arm around her shoulder, “We’re going to do an awesome job.”  
“Alright dear, if you say so.” Perry says.  
“Yeah guys, we’re totally going to nail it!” Kirsch says pumping his fist and getting a bunch of look from the rest of them, “What?”  
A few minutes later they’re called into the Student Association office. It was agreed that Carmilla and Danny would walk in first, since as President and Vice President respectively they would do the most talking. Having the two of them walking in side by side, working together, was quite a sight to see, and had just the sort of reaction they wanted.  
The others quickly filed in behind them.  
The group turned towards the waiting board members and Carmilla, Danny, and LaFontaine frowned when they saw the assembled group.  
“Who are you?” LaFontaine blurts out without thinking as they point to the young man sitting at the center of the table, “Where’s Victor?”  
Although none of the others know him, Carmilla instantly recognizes him as the angry mediator who escorted her to registration, Russo.  
“You?” Carmilla asks almost at the same time as LaFontaine, “What are you doing here?” Everyone now looks to her, surprised that she recognizes the guy.  
“I thought it was obvious.” Russo says, a glint of malicious delight in his eyes, “I’m the head of the Student Association.”  
“No you’re not.” LaFontaine says, “Victor is.”  
“Not anymore.” Russo replies, “The Dean thought that it was in the best interest of the student body to appoint someone less biased towards the supernatural to be in charge.”  
“Less biased?” Carmilla snaps, “How are you less biased?”  
“Now, now, just because I think the idea of this club is an absolute joke, no an insult to the very thing this school is trying to achieve, doesn’t mean I’m biased.” He says with the sadistic smirk of someone who knows they hold all the cards.  
“I swear I’m going to…” Carmilla begins and takes a step forward, but feels a hand on her shoulder. She turns to see Danny standing next to her, her eyes fierce, but shaking her head.  
“Excuse us a moment.” Danny says, “I’m just going to confer with my group here and then we’ll be ready to present.”  
“Fine, fine.” Russo says waving his hand like a bored king, “Take a few minutes to compose yourselves, not that it’ll help.”  
Danny scowls, but nods, and waves the group over. They huddle up and begin to whisper to one another.  
“So this isn’t good.” Danny says.  
“You think?” Carmilla snaps, “That guy has a deep hatred for the supernatural and has some kind of grudge against me for some reason. There’s no way he votes this through.”  
“He’s only one vote though.” Gwen says, “What about the others? Sure Victor was our deciding vote, but could we sway any of the others?”  
“Well, Russo seems to be the only one who has changed, the other six are still the same as before, so three are still supernatural.” LaFontaine says, “We just have to hope that one of the others is secretly supernatural as well.”  
“Or perhaps sympathetic to our cause.” Perry suggests.  
“Yes or that.” LaFontaine agrees.  
“We still have to try.” Danny says, “No matter what. We’ll just have to be extra convincing.”  
“And if not, I kill Russo and you guys try again when they appoint someone else.” Carmilla says and everyone looks at her unsure if she’s kidding or not.  
“So, we still doing this?” LaFontaine asks.  
“Of course.” Danny says.  
“Guess so.” Gwen says.  
“Yes.” Perry says.  
“Yeah!” Kirsch says.  
“Sure.” Carmilla says.  
“Alright, let’s do this then.” LaFontaine says.   
They break apart and Carmilla and Danny move to the front.  
“We’re ready to present now, if you’re ready?” Danny asks.  
The board nods and they begin their presentation. They present for a little over twenty minutes on the merits of their new organization, the costs and benefits, the constitution and rules, how it will function, who will run it, and much more. It’s a well thought out, smoothly run presentation with excellent visuals.   
This of course doesn’t stop Russo from pretending to snore through the entire thing, which despite Carmilla’s wishes they all ignore gracefully. Once they are finished with the presentation they are put through the gauntlet of questions, most of which are fairly easy to answer, with a few intentionally confusing questions thrown in. But they manage to answer them all of them and by the end, most of the board seems satisfied.  
“Any more questions?” Carmilla asks and when no one says anything she nods and steps back.  
“Thank you for your wonderful presentation.” A girl off to the left says, “We’ll discuss this over the next…”  
“Hold up, hold up.” Russo says, holding up his hand, “Now, normally we talk this over for a week or whatever and decide on what to do, but why wait? I think we know the verdict already don’t we? We don’t need to deliberate on this. I say we decide this right now.”  
“That’s not how we normally…” A guy off to the right begins.  
“I know.” Russo snaps, “But I say we do this right now. So let’s do it.”  
“We’ll need a few moments to discuss this at least.” A guy off to the left says.  
“Fine, fine, we’ll take fifteen minutes to come to a decision.” Russo says and turns to the group in front of him, “Leave. We’ll call you back in when we’re ready.”  
The group begins to leave, with Carmilla glaring at Russo the entire time. They exit the office and then wait in the hallway outside, everyone fidgeting nervously as the fate of their new organization hangs in the balance.  
“It was a great presentation.” Gwen says, “You guys did an excellent job. If this didn’t convince them that this was an awesome idea, than nothing would have.”  
Carmilla scowls and then kicks out at a nearby garbage can, “I can’t believe they let that bastard Russo in charge.”  
“I can’t believe they kicked Victor out.” LaFontaine says, “Poor guy worked his ass off to get that position and they just hand it over to that jerk. It’s not right.”  
“We worked hard and I’m proud of all of us. We did our very best and I think no matter what happens, we should come away with that.” Perry says.  
“What? That even if we do our best it’s still not good enough?” Carmilla asks.  
“No…that’s not what I meant.” Perry says, “I mean that…well…that…”  
“We know what you meant Perry.” Danny says, “Don’t let Carmilla get you all upset, she’s just upset right now.”  
“Don’t patronize me.” Carmilla snaps, “Don’t pretend like you know me.”  
“Fine Dead Girl.” Danny says with a shrug, “I was just trying to be nice.”  
“Well don’t be.” Carmilla says, “It’s creepy.”  
“You’re a raging bitch.” Danny says, “Better?”  
“Much.” Carmilla replies, “Thank you.”  
“You guys are so weird.” Kirsch says.  
“Shut up.” Carmilla and Danny say in unison.  
“I hate this waiting.” Gwen says, “It really blows. They should just get it over with.”  
“We could be like waiting a week.” Kirsch says, “That would totally be worse.”  
“True.” Gwen says, “Very true.”  
“It’s all for show anyway.” Carmilla says with a scowl, “If Russo could have, he’d have just denied us right then and there, but the others at least wanted to go through the pretense of deciding.”  
“Maybe they really are discussing it.” Danny says, “Maybe they really are thinking it over.”  
“Doubtful.” Carmilla says.  
“Well, there’s no use speculating on it now.” Perry says, “We should just hold our heads high and hope for the best.” Carmilla rolls her eyes at the optimism, but crosses her fingers and hopes along with the rest of them.  
The fifteen minutes pass and no one calls them in. Then it’s twenty, then twenty-five, then a full half an hour. It’s getting close to the forty minute mark when the door creaks open and one of the board calls them in. The group, irritated and nervous, gets up from where they were sitting in the hall and files back into the office, trying not to look like they are heading to their execution.  
They turn to face the board and find a series of blank, unreadable faces, except for Russo who just looks on at them with the same amount of hatred as before.  
“Alright, we’ve each come to a decision about your little club here and we’re going to take a vote on it.” Russo says, “All in favor of allowing the….what kind of name for a club is this?”  
“Just read what is says Tony.” One of the other says sharply.  
“Fine, all in favor of the Society of Peace between the Abnormal, Transdimensional, Unearthly, Less-Magical, and Amagical becoming an official club of Silas, raise your hand.” Russo says.  
There is a long pause and then the three hands on the left side of the table go up, which isn’t particularly surprising. What is surprising are the two other hands that go up on the opposite side of the table. Everyone in the group is stunned for a moment, not being able to comprehend what they are seeing.  
Russo glares at the two on his right who are raising their hands and then turns back to the group, his eyes furious. He then asks, “All opposed?” Only he and one other raise their hands. He lowers his hand with a sigh and then through gritted teeth says, “Fine. Motion passed. Your stupidly named club is official.” He then stands up and stomps out of the room, slamming the office door behind him. The other board member who voted against them follows more quietly behind him.  
The group stares ahead for a few seconds in disbelief and then huge grins appear on their faces. Kirsch lets out a whoop of excitement and they all cheer for a moment, giving each other high fives, even Carmilla.  
While they are congratulating themselves on their success, several of the board members approach them. The three supernatural members smile, shake hands, and wish them lucky. The two human members approach, one of them does the same as the supernatural; he smiles, shakes their hands, and wishes them luck. The girl however, begins to speak.  
“I think when you saw Russo there you thought this was over. You thought we’d vote against you because we’re human. But I want to let you know you’re not alone in this. There are many of us on campus who hate what is going on and want it to change. So know this, if you ever need my support, just let me know. I’d be more than happy to join your organization.” The girl says and then she smiles and says, “Good luck and bring this organization down.” She then leaves them to their celebrations.  
They smile at one another and then LaFontaine says, “Alright, first mission a success. Now we have a lot of planning to do. Official planning.”  
“Now we got a party!” Kirsch says, cheering again.  
“Congrats everyone, Club Spatula is a go!” LaFontaine says with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know, Club Spatula is kind of a stupid name, but I figured they couldn't very well call themselves the dimwit squad. And I couldn't really think of anything else. Oh well, I guess my imagination was running dry.


	20. Names

The next few days are spent planning. Their first social event is scheduled for Friday the 4th and that is where they hope to make their first impression and get the most people to join. Perry has designed some lovely posters to hang up and fliers to hand out. They’ve recruited some of the Summer Society girls as well as some of the Zetas, who haven’t officially committed to the club yet, but are interested, especially if things go well. There are a few others who have shown their interest also, which gives the group hope.  
The plan is to have their welcome back bash on Friday and have their general interest meeting the follow Monday. If all goes according to plan, they could potentially have dozens of new recruits joining them in making the campus a better place for all.   
They all sit in LaFontaine and Perry’s room this time, discussing various aspects of the party and the club. Carmilla is lounging in a chair, Danny is intertwined with Gwen on the couch with Gwen’s guitar resting in front of them on the floor, Perry is in the kitchen cleaning dishes, Kirsch is sitting on the floor looking bored, and LaFontaine is at their lab table, working on something.  
“Helpers sounds nice and friendly.” Perry suggests from the kitchen as they discuss what to call their club members, “I like it.”  
“But it sounds so…” LaFontaine begins, stopping their work for a moment and trying to think of a word.  
“Lame.” Carmilla adds and LaFontaine shoots her a look.  
“Not what I was going to say.” LaFontaine says.  
“But it’s what you were going to mean.” Carmilla finishes.  
“Well I don’t hear you coming up with anything Carmilla.” Perry accuses, “All you’re doing is sitting over there and shooting down everyone else’s ideas.”  
“When someone comes up with an idea that isn’t totally moronic, then I won’t shoot it down. Until then, consider me a Bf-109.” Carmilla says from where she’s sitting in the chair. Gwen laughs, but she’s the only one. Carmilla feels the silence in the room and looks up, “What?”  
“Bf-109?” Danny asks, “What is that?”  
Carmilla groans and rolls her eyes, “What do they teach you kids these days in school?”  
“Way to sound like a grumpy old man.” Gwen says.  
“It’s a fighter plane, from world war 2? Ring any bells?” Carmilla says.  
“Oh, fighter plane, shooting down, got it.” LaFontaine says, “Hilarious.”  
“Ugh, dimwits.” Carmilla groans and goes back to reading.  
“We could just call ourselves the dimwit squad.” LaFontaine says, “It has certain nostalgia to it.”  
“Dimwit isn’t very nice though.” Perry says.  
“It doesn’t have to be nice.” Danny says, “But is should sound cool. Dimwit squad doesn’t sound cool.”  
“Webmaster sounded cool and you didn’t support that.” LaFontaine counters.  
“Are you still going on about that?” Danny asks, “That’s totally different. That needs to sound all official.”  
“Whatever.” LaFontaine says pouting, “I mean, we called the club SPATULA. It’s not like we’re a very cool bunch.”  
“Fine, call yourself whatever you want.” Danny says shaking her head with a grin, “I mean you have a point, SPATULA isn’t very cool.”  
“But it has sentimental value.” Perry says, “And that’s what’s important. It means something.”  
“So what do we call club members?” Gwen asks, “I mean mediators would actually be a great name for us, too bad that’s already taken.”  
“What about peacekeepers?” Kirsch asks.  
“Too scifi.” LaFontaine says, “Sounds like Farscape.”  
“Far…scape?” Kirsch asks.  
“Never mind.” LaFontaine says waving him off, “We can’t use it….Damn it!”  
“Damn it? What’s damn it?” Perry says stopping what she’s doing, “Damn it as in I need to grab the fire extinguisher, damn it?”  
“No, no.” LaFontaine says shaking their head, “It’s just not working.”  
“What’s not working?” Perry asks.  
“The thing.” LaFontaine says vaguely gesturing to some kind of device in front of her, “The thing.”  
“Oh right, the thing.”  
“The peacekeeper thing isn’t a bad line of thinking though.” Gwen says continuing their other conversation What are other words for mediator?” Gwen asks, “Diplomat? Negotiator?”  
“Pacifier?” Kirsch offers, “No wait, that’s like a baby’s sucking toy thing.”  
“We could go the opposite? Maybe flip it?” Danny offers, “Fighter? Instigator? No.”  
“Hellion.” Carmilla says jokingly.  
“The fiends.” LaFontaine says, “The punks.”  
“The rascals.” Gwen says.  
“The rabble-rousers.” Perry adds with a smile.  
“The imps?” Danny suggests.  
“Not bad.” LaFontaine says with a laugh, “The scoundrels.” And then slams their hands on the lab table in frustration, “No, no, no.”   
“What is it dear?” Perry asks.  
“Nothing, nothing, keep going.” LaFontaine says and begins to fiddle with something.  
“The scamps.” Gwen says.  
“The wastrels, the reprobates, the hooligans, the ruffians, the miscreants.” Carmilla says and then adds, “What do they all have in common?”  
“Ooh! Things old people say?” LaFontaine suggests.  
“True, but no.” Carmilla says.  
“Um, uh, words that have gone out of usage?” Danny suggests.  
“Nope.” Carmilla says.  
“Terrible things people say to poor people?” Gwen suggests.  
“Close, but not quite.” Carmilla says and when no one else answers, “They are all things I’ve been called in my lifetime.” Everyone goes silent, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Carmilla scowls, “It was a joke. I didn’t say it to make you feel bad for me.” There is another long pause and then LaFontaine breaks the silence.  
“You are a bit of a miscreant.” LaFontaine says with a smirk.  
“And a reprobate.” Gwen adds.  
“And a hooligan and a ruffian.” Danny continues, “No idea what a wastrel is.”  
“Essentially a waste of space.” Carmilla tells her.  
“Oh…” Danny says and is silent for a few moments, “Well you know I don’t think that of you.”  
“Are you getting sentimental on me here Big Red?” Carmilla asks, “We talked about this before, you can’t be nice to me, it skeeves me out.”  
“I think you’re a lecherous bitch who thinks too much of herself.” Danny says.  
“And I think you’re an idiotic, overly righteous child playing at being the white knight.” Carmilla replies.  
“Now that, that’s settled.” LaFontaine says with a confused frown, “We still haven’t come up with what to call the club members.” They lean down and fiddle with their device again. There’s a clicking noise, a low hum in the room, and suddenly everything made of ferromagnetic metals within a twenty foot radius comes flying towards LaFontaine at their desk. LaFontaine barely manages to drop to the floor before everything from paperclips, jewelry, the guitar strings on Gwen’s guitar, to larger objects such as frying pans and pots come rushing at them. There’s a loud clanging sound and then the room is quiet.  
“LaFontaine!” Perry shouts and rushes towards them, “Are you okay?”  
LaFontaine leaps to their feet, a grin on their face, “Holy nerdgasm! That was amazing!”   
Perry sighs in relief at finding LaFontaine okay and then scowls. She goes to grab her pots and pans back, but finds they are stuck fast to LaFontaine’s device.  
“LaFontaine, why are my pots and pans stuck to your…your…contraption?” Perry asks.  
“It’s an electromagnet. A super powerful one apparently.” LaFontaine says grinning, “I did not intend it to be this powerful, but look at it. Grabbing all that stuff.”  
“Dude, you broke my guitar strings.” Gwen says with a frown, cradling her guitar like a child.  
“Oh…yeah…whoops.” LaFontaine says, finally looking somewhat abashed, “Yeah, I’ll get you new ones, I promise.”  
“And why, may I ask, are you creating an electromagnet?” Carmilla asks annoyed.  
“Well, it wasn’t supposed to be this strong.” LaFontaine says, “I’ll have to lessen the current. But I was trying to make a sort of electromagnetic pulse gun thing.”  
“I’m sorry, did you just say EMP?” Gwen asks, “You’re making an EMP device? Why?”  
“To help with um…Perry’s bracelet thing.” LaFontaine says and everyone looks over at Perry who curls a bit in on herself.  
“And how does this help that?” Danny asks.  
“Well, it wasn’t supposed to be a super powerful magnet, it was supposed to be an EMP gun, but a really targeted one. Not like a general shoot out in all directions EMP weapon, but a very precise, millimeters thick burst. I can’t get at the device making her sick without taking apart the whole bracelet and that will sound the alarms. But I was thinking if I could send a small EMP burst just large enough to deactivate the part making her sick and not anything else, then maybe…maybe...it could work.” LaFontaine says, their voice growing very small at the end.  
Perry walks over and gives them a big hug, “Thank you LaFontaine. Thank you for doing this for me.”  
“Anytime.” LaFontaine replies hugging her back, “I would work day and night, every night if I could, to make sure you were well.  
Carmilla makes a gagging noise and everyone turns to glare at her.  
“What?” Carmilla asks, “I could feel myself getting diabetes.”  
“Anyway, LaF, can you turn that thing off?” Danny asks and LaFontaine nods. They flick a switch and the humming stops. All the metal objects drop to the ground with a thud. Everyone walks over to collect their belongings.  
“I suppose we were lucky no one had any metal fillings or anything.” LaFontaine comments and everyone goes a shade paler as they realize what could have just happened.   
They quickly resume their previous conversation as LaFontaine puts away the device for now.  
“Well we’re like protectors right?” Kirsch asks, “Defenders of the weak and powerless? We go out into the night and like help people, right? We’re not the heroes they deserve, but the ones they need. So I was thinking…”

“We can’t call ourselves batmen.” LaFontaine says and thinks for a moment and turns to Perry, “Can we?” Perry shakes her head and LaFontaine continues, “Yeah, no, we can’t call ourselves batmen.”  
“Aw man, that would have been so totally cool.” Kirsch says looking disappointed.  
“Anyone else got any ideas?” Gwen asks and there is a silence for a while.  
“Alright, as President of this club I say we stop talking about this right now, cause I am tired and I feel like going to sleep. So continue talking about your important things, while I leave to get some shut eye.” Carmilla says and stands up to leave.  
“Are you not going to help us with those more important things, bloodsucker?” Danny asks.  
“No, of course not, weren’t you listening? I’m going to sleep.” Carmilla says and walks past her towards the door.  
“I swear to god…” Danny says getting up to grab her, but LaFontaine puts a hand on her arm.  
“We do have more fliers and stuff we can hand out. She doesn’t have to help us with that.” LaFontaine tells her.  
“Well she should!” Danny protests and Carmilla gives her the middle finger.  
Danny fumes as Carmilla leaves the room, but let’s her go. Carmilla steps out into the hallway and heads back to her room. She flops down on her bed and lies there, staring at the wall, her eyes open. She can’t sleep. She hasn’t been able to sleep very well this past week. The whole sleep thing was a ruse, she really she wanted to be alone for a while, needed to be alone for a while. There was only so much of the dimwit squad she could take and she guessed LaFontaine suspected that, which is why they let her off the hook on the whole helping thing.  
They did have a lot of work to do before the party on Friday and she knew she really should be helping out with that and she would, eventually, but today was a week since she came back to school and found Laura missing. A week of futile searching with no results and that made her frustrated and angry and her patience for all things that involved Laura’s friends very short.  
So here she was, lying on her bed, staring at a wall instead of working on things for the club. And if she were going to be honest, in this very moment, she didn’t really care. In that moment, there was only one thing she wanted to do and it was with a person who wasn’t there.


	21. Bylaws

The planning for their party is going fairly well. They’ve decided on using the Zetas house as the location of their event since it’s larger than the Summer Society house and they have more alcohol stored in their basement. Perry, Gwen, and Kirsch have gone out and gotten decorations and they plan on setting them up the day of the party, while Danny and LaFontaine have covered other supplies and food…after receiving a list from Perry. They’ve all been in charge of promoting the event, which so far has had only minor hiccups.   
Carmilla is pretty sure some of the mediators have been tearing down their posters and she knows someone started spreading rumors about their party. The funniest one she’s heard so far is that it’s a secret cult meeting and everyone invited will be part of a cult sacrifice to some evil god. She’s pretty sure even the most radical opponents of their cause don’t believe that one. And counter to what they intended, these new rumors are making the party even more of a must be at event, adding an air of mystery and danger that college students are so often intrigued by.   
But while the party planning is going along rather well, the campus is not, proving why they need the party to begin with. In the past week there have been nasty name calling and slurs flung about, several heated arguments some of which have turned into screaming matches, small fights that have occurred all across campus, and a larger brawl in a downtown pub that left three in the hospital. And the mediators, who are supposed to be keeping the peace, are often the worst offenders, instigating problems and writing people up for minor or even imaginary charges. And while no one has confirmed this, Carmilla believes that there were several off duty mediators in that pub brawl that most likely started it.  
So when Carmilla heads out onto campus to hang up more posters before going to class and finds a large group of people standing in front of the administration building, waving signs, and shouting about equal rights, she isn’t entirely surprised. There have been protests going on for days now, with surprisingly enough the Alchemy club leading that charge. She thinks, they probably figure if the administration is against supernatural creatures, they’re probably not too keen on alchemical experimentation either and the alchemy club is most likely in their crosshairs. A part of Carmilla wonders why the administration hasn’t disbanded the alchemy club already, but she shrugs it off.   
She observes the crowd and spots a petite girl standing on a platform at the front, shouting into a megaphone. For a brief moment she thinks it’s Laura, but she spies purple hair and several facial piercings which tells her otherwise before she focuses in on the girl and sees its definitely not Laura. But her small stature and her ferocity up on that stage, surely remind Carmilla of Laura. Carmilla can picture Laura in her place, standing up there, shouting about equal rights and about gross abuse of power. It makes her smile for a moment, thinking about her girlfriend, but that smile quickly turns sour as she remembers that Laura isn’t here.  
She looks over the crowd once more and while everyone seems pretty angry, for good reason, they’re all protesting peacefully which is all she can really ask for. So, she’s about to leave when she hears someone say her name. She turns back towards the crowd and sees the purple haired girl looking over at her, as well as a good chunk of the crowd.  
“It looks like we have a celebrity in our midst.” The girl says into the megaphone with a smirk, “Hello Carmilla Karnstein! Come here to help in our protests?”  
Carmilla is stunned for a moment, but then shrugs and says, “No. Just passing through. Hanging up posters.” She gestures to the posters she’s holding.  
“Ah, I see.” The girl says, “You’re here about your….club. Tell me Carmilla, this club is supposed to promote…what? Peace and love between mundanes and supernaturals?”  
“Well yeah, we’re trying to get the two sides to see…hold up, did you just say mundanes?” Carmilla asks.  
The girl ignores her question and continues, “Peace between the two sides, it is a noble aspiration, I’ll give you that. But peace will get us nothing.”  
“Our club is about protecting, helping, and educating the public.” Carmilla says, “That’s not nothing.”  
“But it’s not enough.” The girl says, “Your club is all about playing nice, about acquiescing to an administration which has subjugated us, made us second class citizens. I say, we shouldn’t play nice! I say we should stand up and fight!” The crowd cheers loudly for her.  
“Well, yeah.” Carmilla says with a shrug when the cheering dies down, “Of course.”  
“What?” The girl says confused.  
“Did you think that our club was about rolling over and letting them just steamroll over us? We’re trying to be there, so that you can do this.” Carmilla says gesturing to the crowd, “Without interference by mediators or the administration. And while you’re doing this, we’re getting more people to join our cause, to join our side, to join you. It’s about getting the sides to work together, so we can come together as one, and fight together as one, and holy hell, when did I become so lame?”  
“Oh….” The girl says, “Well then, I guess that’s a good thing.”  
“Yeah, it is.” Carmilla says and begins to walk away again.  
“Wait!” The girl shouts and Carmilla turns around, “You know they can’t stop our protests anyway, right? Cause of the bylaws.”  
“The what now?” Carmilla asks.  
“The original bylaws of this campus cannot be overturned.” The girl says, “Just added to. It’s a magic thing.”  
“And the original bylaws says protesting is allowed?” Carmilla asks.  
“By all students.” The girl says, “We’re protected. They can’t stop us.”  
Carmilla looks over at a group of mediators approaching, “They’re certainly going to try.”  
“They can try.” The girl says with a smirk, “But it won’t work.”   
As the mediators approach a glowing blue circle appears around the gathered protestors. The mediators see it, stop, and scowl. They then turn and walk away, heading back to their posts. The glowing blue circle then fades.  
“See.” The girl says, “We’re protected.”  
Carmilla looks at where the line was, looks at the protestors, and begins to think about the bylaws, “Well that’s something to think about. Where can one find these bylaws?” She asks the girl.  
“The archives!” The girl shouts.  
Carmilla nods and begins to walk away as she thinks, heading towards the library as she does so. It’s time to look over these bylaws.  
She’s halfway to the library when she notices a heated conversation going on between two mediators and a young woman. The young woman looks nervous and like she’s trying to walk away, while the two mediators are sort of blocking her. Carmilla can see from where she is standing that one of them has a nasty smile on his face.  
“…and then we’ll let you be on your way.” The one with his back to Carmilla says as she begins to listen in.  
“Yeah, it’s like…what do they call it…protection, you know?” The one with the smile says, “You pay us and we protect you from the other meaner mediators out there who would do you harm.”  
“Like…like I said, I…I don’t…I don’t have any money.” The girl says and tries to inch away again, but is stopped by one of the mediators.  
“I know, you’ve said that.” The one facing away from Carmilla says, “But that’s okay, you could pay us in…other ways.”  
The girl’s eyes go wide and Carmilla has officially heard enough.  
“Hey!” She shouts, “Is everything okay over here?” She stalks towards them, putting on her best predatory look.  
They barely pay attention to her though as they focus in on the girl in front of them, “Yeah, yeah, everything is fine. Get out of here.” The smiley one says, waving her off.  
“Really, cause she doesn’t look too fine.” Carmilla says, standing right behind them as they face away from her, “She looks like she really needs to get off to class.” She winks at the girl and the girl nods vigorously.  
“I do…I really, really do.” The girl says.  
Finally one of the mediators turns around to face her, “Look, we’re in the middle of something here. So why don’t you scamper off and bother somebody else?”  
“I didn’t know I was being a bother.” Carmilla says and looks at the girl, “Am I bothering you?”  
The girl shakes her head, “No.”  
“See, I’m not bothering her. But I think you might be.” Carmilla says, pushing forward and standing in front of the girl now, who Carmilla realizes is very small, barely coming up to Carmilla’s shoulder.  
“We’re conducting business here, so you better fuck off before I make you regret…” The first mediator says before he stops and looks at the level five badge she is wearing. He instantly goes several shades paler, “Um…er…regret interfering and…” He seems to have lost his resolve as he looks at her. The other one looks at his companion confused and then back at Carmilla, noticing the badge as well. He goes rigid and then quickly reaches for something at his belt.  
“Look, this young lady would really just like to get off to class. So why don’t you let her go and nothing has to happen here.” Carmilla says in the most calming and menacing voice she can muster.  
The two mediators look unsure of themselves, “We could stop you if we…if we er wanted to.”  
“Could you really?” Carmilla asks showing a nasty smile herself now, “Would you like to test that?”  
They hesitate and then frown, “We’ll…we’ll just be…er…just be going then. I think our…er…business is done, you know?” They both quickly leave, with one even shouting behind him, “Have a nice day.” Before they leave.  
Carmilla sighs, turns around, looks the girl up and down, determines she’s alright, and then begins to head back towards the library.  
“Hey, wait!” The girl shouts and begins to follow her.  
“What?” Carmilla asks gruffly.  
“I just…I mean…I wanted to say thank you is all for that…you know?” The girl says.  
“Alright, you said your thanks.” Carmilla says.  
“Er…um..is that it?” The girl asks, “I don’t get to even know your name?”  
Carmilla pauses and then shakes her head, “Nope.” She continues to walk away.  
“Well I’m Laka!” Laka says as Carmilla walks away, “In case you were wondering!”   
“I wasn’t!” Carmilla calls back to the girl. She leaves the girl standing there confused and she makes her way towards the library.  
Carmilla makes it to the library a few minutes later before she realizes her class starts in an hour. She considers skipping her class, but decides against it. She searches the archives of the library for as long as she can, but finds no mention of the bylaws. The archives themselves are a disaster, with books and scrolls and other forms of keeping record all throw together in different piles and different places. There doesn’t seem to be much of an organizational system here, which is why she is having so much difficulty finding anything. After nearly an hour of fruitless searching, she leaves to go to class, determined to come back later and search it out.


	22. Decorating

It’s the day of the party and everyone is running around like lunatics, everyone excluding Carmilla who is trying to pretend not to be interested in everything that is going on. And failing miserably at it.  
“No meathead, I already said, we’re not bringing in a keg.” Carmilla says to the large puppy dog like man who is attempting to bring a keg up from the basement, “We’re not having a frat party.”  
“But it isn’t a party without a keg.” Kirsch protests.  
“Only if you’re a moronic frat boy.” Carmilla counters.  
“Lame. You guys are no fun.” Kirsch says as he carries the keg back down to the basement.  
“So, what do you think of the decorations, Prez?” LaFontaine asks from behind her.  
Carmilla shrugs, “I’m sure they look fine.”  
“Says the girl who wouldn’t let us use pink or purple as you didn’t want it to, as you put it, look like the birthday party of a six year old with a princess obsession.” LaFontaine says, “Or silver and black together, as it’s not a new year’s party, or too much green and red because it’s not Christmas, or orange at all because apparently it’s a hideous color and shouldn’t be used for anything besides Halloween. I’m not sure how I feel about that last comment.” They say as they run a hand through their hair, “But for a girl who says she doesn’t care, you’ve been very particular about how we should decorate.”  
“It’s only common sense.” Carmilla says.  
“No streamers or characters on the plasticware or balloon animals. Not even a bouncy castle. Who doesn’t want a bouncy castle?” LaFontaine comments.   
“Anyone over the age of four.” Carmilla counters  
“Not true.” LaFontaine says with a pout, “Anyone who hasn’t lost their inner child.”  
“I haven’t been a child in centuries.” Carmilla replies.  
“I miss Laura.” LaFontaine says with a sigh, “She would have let me have a bouncy castle.”  
Carmilla frowns, “Laura isn’t here. So you’re stuck with me.”  
“I know. I’m sorry.” LaFontaine replies, “I’m sure your decoration ideas and other ideas will make for a great party.”  
“Thank you for your patronizing words. I’m sure they should have probably made me feel better.” Carmilla says with a scowl.  
LaFontaine throws up their hands in exasperation, “You’re impossible!” They then leave the room in a huff, muttering about grumpy vampires.  
Carmilla stands there in the middle of the living room, with her arms crossed, and then she lets out a long sigh. She flops down on the dirty, slightly crusty couch of the Zetas and closes her eyes, imagining Laura there with her for the millionth time that day. It’s painful and makes her heart ache, but she can’t help, but do it.   
She can’t believe how much of a wreck this girl has made her. Two weeks without her and she’s already falling apart. It scares her how much she’s fallen for Laura, how much she cares about the girl, how much her world revolves around her. But she can’t help it and she doesn’t really want to. She just needs to find her missing girlfriend before she goes insane with worry.  
A few moments later Perry comes into the room and Carmilla lets out another sigh. She just wanted a few moments of peace, but it looks like she wouldn’t be getting that.  
“We need to talk.” Perry says.  
“If I offended your redheaded lover, just know that I’m not going to apologize, and they should know by now that…” Carmilla begins, but Perry cuts her off.  
“I didn’t mean about that.” Perry says as she sits down next to her on the couch, “Although I would appreciate it if you didn’t cause LaFontaine agitation every time you speak.”  
“I make no promises.” Carmilla says, “What did you want to talk about?”  
“Your hearing.” Perry says.  
“Oh.” Carmilla says, “Yeah, lets not.”  
“It’s in a few days and I don’t think you’ve thought about it in the slightest.” Perry says, “Which is partially understandable as we’ve been rather busy these past two weeks, but it’s fast approaching. We can’t ignore it any longer.”  
“I don’t want to talk about this.” Carmilla says, “There’s nothing to talk about.”  
“That’s not true.” Perry says, “There’s plenty to talk about. What they might ask you. What you’re going to say. How you’re going to behave. What you’re going to wear. There’s plenty to talk about.”  
“Why does everyone in this stupid group feel the need to talk about every little thing?” Carmilla asks, “You assume because I haven’t talked about it, that must mean I haven’t thought about it.”  
“Well, have you?” Perry asks.  
“Of course I have!” Carmilla shouts, “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to share it with you, or Poindexter and certainly not Xena or the walking fleabag. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m a rather private person. I like to keep things to myself. I don’t have to share my every thought and feeling with you or anyone else.”  
“I wasn’t suggesting that you had to.” Perry says after a moment’s pause, “But like it or not, we are here to help you. And you may not think of us this way, but we are your friends. You can come to us with problems or concerns or worries and we will do our best to be there for you.”  
“I don’t…” Carmilla begins, but then stops and shakes her head, “This is ridiculous. I don’t have to talk to you. I don’t want to talk to you about this. The person I…never mind, just leave it be. I have thought about the hearing. Don’t worry about that. Go back to your stupid macramé or bedazzling or whatever it is you do.”  
Perry nods and gets up, “I understand that the person you would normally talk to about this, isn’t here. But that doesn’t mean you have no one. If you ever want to talk about your fears or worries or even girl troubles if they come to you, know that I am always here, I am always willing to listen.” Perry then brushes off her pants, “And for future reference, my macramé is not stupid, it’s excellent.” She then turns on her heel and leaves the room.   
Carmilla watches her go a bit stunned. As soon as Perry leaves the room she smiles slightly and shakes her head. How did she get mixed up with such a strange bunch of people? She knew the answer to that.


	23. The Party Part 1

The beginning of the party goes off with barely a hitch and by midnight the party is in full swing. At first, most of the party is Zetas, Summer Society girls, and several well-known supernatural students. But as time passes and the party kicks into high gear, more and more students from all walks of life and origins make an appearance. By two in the morning, you have human and supernatural students talking, dancing, singing, crying, and even a few making out with each other like it was any old party or event at this school. Proving Kirsch’s theory on drunken camaraderie right.  
Carmilla has spent most of the party torn between hiding upstairs away from the noise and drunkenness and having to be a good President and make an appearance. Every so often, one of the others drags her downstairs to meet some people, talk a little, and even dance a bit. She puts on her best winning smile which LaFontaine said was just short of terrifying and attempts to mingle with the best of them. It was proving difficult.  
“I’m just saying, women are like super confusing cause they’re so emotional.” One of the Zetas says to Carmilla who has been pretending to listen to the drunken frat boys increasingly misogynistic comments for the last ten minutes. Her patience was growing thin, although in truth she’s proud she’s lasted this long.  
“….which is why women and men are so different, you know? Like men are stable and logical and women are…what’s the word…um…” He says his eyes blinking too fast as he tips forward a bit in his drunken state.  
“Also stable and logical?” Carmilla offers through gritted teeth.  
“Uh, yeah! Wait…no, that’s not…not where I was going with this.” The guy slurs.  
“And where were you going with this?” Carmilla asks.  
“Uh…well…women are…I can’t think of how to….I guess unstable? And illogical? They’re like all…all…flighty and emotional…it’s all the…the hormones they have rushing around in them…like efrogen and stuff…wait…efrogen? Does that sound right? Essnogen? I can’t….anyway….you know…all the hormones…you’re a woman…like…you know…and so with all those hormones…” The guys says, stumbling a bit.  
“Yes?” Carmilla asks, her tone becoming darker.  
“With all those hormones…rushing about…I don’t tha…tha…think a woman should be in any…any sort of powerful position…like…uh…like President or whatever.” The guy says, “They’re…uh…too irrational.”  
Carmilla lets out a long, drawn out sigh. How did she get stuck over here, with this moron of all people? She wasn’t in the mood for this.  
She looks up at the oaf, who looks like he’s waiting for some kind of response, smiles like a cat that’s just killed a canary, and places her hand gently on his chest. He looks down at her hand confused for just a second until she shoves hard, slamming him up against the wall. Unfortunately, with her new found status as President of this club she can’t outright kill him or even probably maim him, though the thought does cross her mind.   
So with one hand, she pushes him hard enough to keep him stuck against the wall, but not hard enough to break anything. She feels him lose the breath from his lungs as he collides with the wall behind her and she smirks at that. It’s a subtle thing and unless someone was paying close attention to them, they wouldn’t notice what was happening in this corner of the room.  
“Listen to me and listen good.” Carmilla snarls out, “Just because some girl rejected your advances, does not mean that all women are crazy, emotional wrecks. If you want to talk about illogical, that leap of thinking is the most illogical I’ve heard in a while. And I’m going to let you in on a little secret, I’ve lived for a very long time and in that time I’ve met many people and if you honestly think that men are more logical or more rational than women, then you are more of an idiot than I thought you were when I found out you were a Zeta to begin with. Nearly every war, every conflict, every problem between two different or not all that different people has been caused by, you guessed it, men. And I’m not saying women would have done much better, what I am saying is that we’re not all that different you and I…well you and I are very different seeing as I’m not an idiot and I can’t say the same for you. But you get my point. And if you want to talk about hormones, have you ever heard of a little thing called testosterone? Talk about scary hormones, geez that thing can cause inordinate amounts of anger and aggression and it goes through cycles too, just like estrogen in women. So all this posturing and nonsense about the differences between women and men, this defense mechanism that you’ve put around yourself to make yourself feel better about your rejection, is ridiculous and childish and will not get women to like you and will not get others to think better of you. So get those moronic notions out of that pea brain of yours and start to think for yourself.”  
The guys looks at her confused, “Wait…what?”  
Carmilla feels the fire that was bubbling inside her flare up and she raises her fist, “That’s it! I’m doing this world a favor. I’m putting you down.”  
Before Carmilla can kill the kid, LaFontaine slides themselves between the two, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Carmilla, let’s not do anything that will get our club disbanded and you expelled.”  
“Egghead, get out of my way. I need to kill this kid. He needs to die. He cannot reproduce.” Carmilla says.  
“Carmilla, the drunken ramblings of frat boy are not…hey did you call me Eggehead!” LaFontaine protests.  
“He’s a misogynistic piece of shit who deserves to have his head slammed through a wall.” Carmilla snarls.  
LaFontaine runs their hands over their head and scowls, “My head is not egg shaped! And if that’s true, I have one word for you, delegate.”   
“What?” Carmilla says, confused now.  
“You’re the President of our club. You can’t punish this guy yourself. It’ll look bad. So delegate. Have Danny and Kirsch deal with him. I’m sure they’d be more than happy to.” LaFontaine says with a grin, “In the party spirit, you know?”  
Carmilla pauses to think about how Danny would react to some of this guy’s comments and can’t help, but smirk herself, “Alright, I’ll delegate. Hand him over to Big Red and the Puppy.”  
“Will do.” LaFontaine says and grabs the drunken guy by the arm, “Come on idiot, I just saved your life. You should be groveling at my feet.”  
“I feel like I’m going to throw up.” The guy says.  
“That sounds about right.” LaFontaine groans and looks over their shoulder back at Carmilla, “And my head isn’t egg shaped!”  
Carmilla chuckles to herself and then spies the stair case not too far away. If she’s quiet, she can probably sneak back upstairs and away from all the idiots and goons down here.  
She takes a few steps and almost makes it to the stairs before someone slides in front of her.   
“Hi!” The person says and Carmilla recognizes her as the girl she saved the other day, whatever her name was.  
“Oh, you.” Carmilla says without much enthusiasm.  
“Yes, me.” The girl says, “Hi.”  
“Hi.” Carmilla replies, “Bye.” She attempts to move around the girl, but is stopped when the girl steps in front of her again.  
“I just saw you in the crowd and thought I’d say hi.” The girl says.  
“Well you said hi, already.” Carmilla says with a frown, “Now, go away.”  
“I also wanted to thank you for saving me the other day.” The girl says with a smile.  
“You already thanked me for that.” Carmilla says, “Now I’d like…”  
“I know, but I thought I should say it again.” The girl says.  
“Look…whatever your name is….” Carmilla begins.  
“Laka.” Laka says.  
“Fine, yes, Laka.” Carmilla says, “I really am not in the mood to talk right now. So if you’d….”  
“We don’t have to talk.” Laka says with a smile.  
“Good, now you get it.” Carmilla says and goes to move around her again, but Laka grabs her arm and attempts to pull Carmilla towards her, but Carmilla holds herself apart. Laka frowns.  
“What are you doing?” Carmilla asks and pulls her arm away from Laka.  
“I thought we could, you know…not talk.” Laka says.  
“Yeah, I’m trying not to talk to you right now.” Carmilla replies, “It’s not working.”  
“Okay, I can take a hint.” Laka says, “This isn’t the right time for this. You’re stressed right now. I get it.” Laka moves aside to let Carmilla bye, “We can talk or not talk later.”  
“Fine, whatever.” Carmilla says and pushes past her to head back upstairs, completely confused by the entire interaction.


	24. The Party Part 2

Carmilla is downstairs again, hiding in the kitchen when the mediators crash the party in an attempt to shut it down. However, they knew this might happen and have a few contingencies in place in case it did.  
Carmilla hears the conversation and looks out from the kitchen doorway to see LaFontaine, Danny, and Kirsch moving in towards the three angry looking mediators. Kirsch steps up first and attempts to hand one of the mediators a beer, as he throws around a lot of ‘bros’ in his speech to them. They don’t look impressed and attempt to move in farther, but Kirsch wraps his arm around one of their shoulders and gives an attitude of drunken nonchalance and camaraderie. He offers them the beer again, just as LaFontaine and Danny make their way over, offering the three mediators food.  
The six of them have a quick conversation and Kirsch shouts something like, “Mi Casa, es su Casa!” The three mediators look at each other, look at the party, look at the beer and other drinks in people’s hands, shrug, and make their way into the living room. They each get offered a beer, which they take. A few minutes later they have stripped off most of their uniform to a basic t-shirt and pants and are dancing with the rest of the party.  
This lasts for about two hours before another set of mediators shows up. They spot two of their drunken brethren passed out on the floor and one still dancing like an idiot and they don’t look too happy about it. Kirsch moves in again to try and persuade the group to join in the revelry and Danny and LaFontaine offer up food again, but these mediators seem more steadfast in their resolve. Kirsch wraps his arm around one of them as he did before, but the guy just shrugs it off, and then shoves Kirsch away.   
Carmilla comes from upstairs this time after hearing the beginnings of an argument between Kirsch and the three mediators. Danny and LaFontaine move in to help Kirsch and the stern debate turns into a full on verbal sparring match.  
“…unnaturals out this late and making all this noise!” One of them shouts at Danny who is now standing in the front of the group.   
“What did you just call my friends?” Danny shouts back.  
“Unnaturals.” The guy says and scowls, “And I was being polite. I should call them what they really are, demons, devils, fiends.” He says and makes the sign of the cross.  
The whole room goes silent, except for the blaring music and some hissing of outrage from the assembled group.  
“That’s right!” he shouts, “You heard me! You’re demons! Fiends!” The crowd looks furious and Carmilla feels rage boil up inside her again. For her and many who call themselves supernatural, being called a demon or a fiend is one of the worst insults someone can say as it implies or outright states a connection to demons and the Devil. And seeing as most of the supernatural community has nothing to do with demons and their kind, an insult like that is not taken lightly.  
Carmilla walks down the steps and stops at the bottom of the stairs, right in front of the entryway where the mediators are.   
“You will leave, right now.” She snarls out.  
The guy in front looks down at her and his face twists into a mask of rage and disgust, “How dare you command me!” He shouts at her.  
“You will leave right now.” She repeats, “I will not tell you again. This is for your own good.” She can feel the buzz in the crowd behind her. She can feel several of the supernatural in the group powering up and wants to prevent any kind of altercation.  
“I will not…” He begins, but feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to see one of the other mediators behind him, stopping him.  
“Gideon, that’s enough.” The guy behind him says, “We didn’t come here for this.”  
Gideon rounds on his companion, “You may not have Kasem, but I did. I cannot stand idly by and let this veritable Sodom and Gomorrah occur right in front of me.”  
“Really? Sodom and Gomorrah?” The third guy says, “That’s where we’re going with this? It’s a party numbnuts, not a wretched hive of scum and villainy.”  
“Nice reference, bro.” Kirsch says holding out a fist and the third guy bumps it.  
“But…but…they’re demons!” Gideon says, apparently shocked that his companions would object.  
“We’re not demons.” Carmilla says, “Or fiends or communing with the Devil. Get that through your thick skull.”   
“Like I would believe that coming from you.” Gideon hisses out and then spits at her. Danny and LaFontaine quickly step in front of Carmilla as she nearly loses it behind them.   
“Well that was unnecessary…and gross.” Kasem says.  
“All of you will swim in pools of hellfire and be ripped to pieces by hellhounds!” Gideon shouts.  
“Okay! That’s enough, geez.” Kasem says and grabs Gideon by the arm to drag him away, “Can you believe this guy Halden?”  
Halden shrugs, “I’ve seen worse.”  
“Whatever. We came here cause we were told our men were kidnapped and being held prisoner.” Kasem says and looks at the three drunken mediators, “But seeing as they seem to be just fine, we’ll collect them, and be on our way…just you know keep it down, and make sure no ritual sacrifices or whatever occurs, cool?” Carmilla and the others nod in agreement.  
“What? That’s it? You’re just going to let this continue!” Gideon shouts, “Sinners! The lot of you! And you humans are the worst! You demons are evil, but that is just your nature! You can’t help that! You can’t help who you are! But no, you humans who consort with the devil are worse for you had a choice! You could have chosen God and his righteous path, but instead you chose the way of sin and immorality! You chose the way of evil! You will burn! The lot of you!”  
“Alright, shut up moron.” Kasem says, “I think they get it.” He begins to drag Gideon out of the room, “Halden, can you grab the others, I have to wrangle this guy, he’s practically frothing at the mouth. I’m not sure he doesn’t have some disease.”  
“Yeah, it’s call being a fucking moron.” Danny says and Kasem laughs. Gideon looks furious.  
“You’ll all burn…” He begins, but gets cut off as Kasem shoves him out the door.  
“Sorry about this folks. Resume your partying.” Kasem says as he leaves. Halden helps the other mediators to their feet and ushers them out the door. It’s unnaturally quiet for several moments after they leave.  
“Well that was weird.” LaFontaine says, which seems to break the ice, and the party resumes just as it was before.  
“You shouldn’t have stopped me from killing him.” Carmilla says, “You keep stopping me from killing people. It’s really bumming me out.”  
“Yes well, killing people isn’t how we handle things anymore.” LaFontaine says, “We don’t settle things by duels or gladiator fights or anything like that.”  
“I never participated in a gladiator fight.” Carmilla scoffs, “That was well before my time.”  
“You did duel though, didn’t you?” Danny asks.  
Carmilla shrugs, “That was more for the men, than the women, but after turning…”  
Perry and Gwen make their way through the crowd.  
“Are you guys okay over here?” Gwen asks.  
“We’re fine babe.” Danny says and wraps her arm around her girlfriend, who pecks her on the cheek.  
“And you LaFontaine? How are you?” Perry asks as she moves in close to LaFontaine.  
“I’m good.” LaFontaine says, “Just prevented a fight, riot, and a potential murder. No big deal.”  
“Well I’m glad you’re okay.” Perry says kissing LaFontaine on the cheek, “My hero.” Everyone else groans and LaFontaine blushes.  
“Perr…” LaFontaine says.  
Perry smiles and kisses LaFontaine again, “What? You are my hero, my fiery red haired hero. My phoenix.”  
“Perr!” LaFontaine whines as everyone else giggles a little bit, “Please!” They cover their face in their hands.  
“Alright, alright honey.” Perry says patting LaFontaine on their back, “I’ll stop.”  
“Thank you.” LaFontaine says, though it comes out a bit strangled.  
“Anyway, if you need me, I’ll be back upstairs.” Carmilla says, moving to walk away.  
“Hey, hold up.” Danny says, “You’re the President of this club, you can’t just keep disappearing.”  
“Excuse me if grinding with or conversing with either Neanderthals or children holds no interest for me.” Carmilla says, “If you wanted a President who was amicable and a people person, well you definitely picked the wrong gal.”  
“Could you at least pretend?” LaFontaine asks.  
Carmilla seems to think about it and then shakes her head, “No.” She then disappears up the stairs at a superhuman speed, barely leaving a blur as she moves. The others shrug and head back to the party.  
Overall, with only small problems here and there, the party is a complete success. Most everyone has a great time and their goal of integrating the two sides is beginning to work as they find new friendships and even new romances blossom that night. For the next few days, the party is all anyone can talk about. Even with mediators and other objectors spouting hate speech and spreading nasty rumors across campus, the two sides seem to have relaxed some, tensions seem to be lessening, and there’s hope for the first time that things could go back to normal.   
Monday is when their general interest meeting is and there is a lot of interest that’s been shown by both the supernatural and human students of Silas. Carmilla thinks that maybe they’re on the right track with this whole thing, that maybe for once, things will work out in their favor.  
That is, until Monday happens.


	25. Chaos

Carmilla wakes up Monday, late afternoon and for the first time since Laura’s disappearance doesn’t feel absolutely dreadful. She rolls out of bed, pours herself a cup of blood, takes a shower, and gets dressed and feels like this day might not be so terrible.  
She’s lying in bed, going over their itinerary for the GIM that night and thinking to herself that she can’t believe she’s going over an itinerary when a sound like thunder bursts through the windows. It literally bursts through the windows as one second Carmilla is sitting there reading and another she’s shielding herself from flying glass as the concussive force of something breaks every window in the entire complex and the surrounding area.  
Carmilla is quickly on her feet and rushing to the now decimated window when she hears screaming coming from many different places across campus. With her superior hearing she can hear the cries of fright, anguish, and pain from nearly everyone around her. She attempts to shut it out and looks out the window to see what the hell is going on.  
She peers out the window, but doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary and wonders if it’s just a onetime thing, perhaps some strange alchemy club experiment gone wrong. She turns away from the window and takes one step back, when another shock wave crashes through the building. It hits Carmilla like a punch and she nearly drops to the floor. The screaming around her gets louder and for the first time she hears something else. Footsteps? Maybe? It sounds like something big moving around outside.  
Suddenly a stream of fire flashes across the window about four hundred meters away and there’s a terrible roaring sound.   
“Great.” Carmilla says with an exasperated sigh, “And this day was going so well too.”  
Her door bursts open and LaFontaine comes charging in. Carmilla can hear Perry in the background directing people to stay in their rooms and comforting those who are freaking out.   
“Hi there.” Carmilla says to an out of breath LaFontaine, “Is there something you’d like to discuss?”  
LaFontaine shoots her a glare and then once they regain their breath they say, “We could use your help.”  
“Oh, is there something the matter?” Carmilla asks.  
LaFontaine glares at her again and then another jet of flames is shot across their field of vision. LaFontaine gestures to it, “I don’t suppose you’ve noticed the events going on outside.”  
“Well I was alerted to some kind of problem when a bunch of glass came flying at my face.” Carmilla snarks.  
“Oh good, we’re doing this now.” LaFontaine says with a scowl and then drops to the floor as the ground begins to shake around them for a moment. A moment later the loud, blaring alarm finally goes off alerting them of danger.  
“Took them long enough.” Carmilla comments.  
“So, are you coming?” LaFontaine says.  
“What’s out there?” Carmilla asks, “A dragon?”  
“I don’t know.” LaFontaine says as they get back to their feet, “I had my money on Godzilla.”   
“Does Godzilla breathe fire?” Carmilla asks, “I thought it was more of an atomic breath or something.”  
“Whoa, nerd alert.” LaFontaine says with a smirk which gets a glare from Carmilla, “And do we have to have this conversation now? Some kind of giant monsters that breathes fire is attacking the campus.”  
“And you’d like me to what about that?” Carmilla asks.  
“Well monster fighting is kind of right up your alley.” LaFontaine says.  
“Why don’t you ask Turner and Hooch for help, they’re the dragon slayers.” Carmilla says.  
“We’ll invite them too. It can be a party.” LaFontaine says dryly, “Now common, let’s save this stupid campus again.” They run off and Carmilla groans and shakes her head.  
“Here we go again.” Carmilla grumbles and then runs off after LaFontaine.  
She catches up with LaFontaine a few moments later and they make their way down to the entrance of the dorm. They step outside into absolute chaos.  
Dozens of monsters and other creatures are running around, attacking people, causing destruction, and overall just wreaking havoc. It’s practically a war zone out here as mediators and students combat various monsters using whatever means they can.   
Carmilla and LaFontaine just stand there for several seconds staring at the events transpiring around them.  
“Holy shit.” LaFontaine says.  
“You said it.” Carmilla replies.  
“It’s like…it’s like…the final scenes of Cabin in the Woods out here.” LaFontaine says.  
“Never saw it.” Carmilla comments.  
LaFontaine turns to her, “What? Really? You should watch it. It was good. It’s done by Joss Whedon, so Laura would probably like it too.”  
“I’ll have to check it out, you know, when things die down a bit.” Carmilla says.  
“Fair.” LaFontaine replies, “So…”  
“Yeah.” Carmilla says, unsure of where to begin.  
Suddenly, they see Danny and Gwen jogging over to them. Danny is clutching a sword in her hands and has a gash over her right eyebrow which is dripping down her face and Gwen who has partially transformed has scratches up her arms. They’re both sweating, covered in dirt, and breathing hard.  
“Thank god you guys are here.” Danny says.  
“What the hell…look out!” LaFontaine shouts and Gwen and Danny hit the deck as a large lizard like creature swoops down from the sky and tries to grab them with razor sharp claws, “What the hell was that? Was that a dragonbat?”  
“I have no idea.” Danny says, “And I honestly don’t care. We just need to get rid of it.”  
“What happened?” Carmilla asks.  
“Apparently all the creatures the alchemy club was keeping in their pens in their labs got loose somehow and are now, well running amok.” Danny replies and Gwen lets out a few grunts of agreement.   
“Those fools.” Carmilla snarls, “Absolute fools. Messing with powers they do not understand.”  
“They’re currently working on containing those creatures that they can, but there are some more powerful creatures that they’re having some difficulty with.” Danny says.  
“So I assume that’s where we come in.” Carmilla replies, “Do the whole slay the beast thing.”  
“Yep.” Danny says and turns towards LaFontaine, “You should probably go get your flamethrower, you’re going to need it.”  
“Right.” LaFontaine says and rushes back inside to retrieve it.  
“Alright Xena, is there any sort of plan of attack?” Carmilla asks and covers her ears as an explosion occurs not too far away.  
“Kill anything that attacks you?” Danny offers.  
“Great, awesome plan there, think of that all on your own?” Carmilla asks and Danny frowns.  
“Fine what would you do?” Danny asks.  
Just as Carmilla is about to speak, they hear loud footsteps and the screeches of what sounds like many monsters. They turn to see something huge moving out from behind one of the academic buildings and all freeze when they see what it is.  
“I know what I would do.” Carmilla says, “I would take out the hydra first.”


	26. Fighting for Life

Carmilla steps away from the remains of the hydra, clutching the large, dripping heart of the creature in her fangs. The hydra lies dead, collapsed partially on the ground, partially slumped against the science building, with several of its heads cut off. Carmilla looks over to see Danny already rushing off to fight the next creature, with Gwen loping along behind her. LaFontaine is leaning against a wall with their flamethrower strapped to their back, nozzle hanging down on their right side and a bloody axe gripped loosely in the their left hand. They are clutching their side.  
Carmilla spits out the heart and shifts back into her human form as she walks over to the scientist. She looks them over and they look somewhat worse for wear, covered in dirt and ash, bruises already forming with scratches here and there along their body.   
“You dying?” Carmilla asks.  
LaFontaine removes their hand from their side to reveal a shallow gash oozing out blood, “Not immediately.”  
“That’s good to hear.” Carmilla says.  
LaFontaine takes a deep breath and winces, “I don’t think I’m cut out for this line of work.”  
“No, probably not. I can’t believe you’ve lasted this long.” Carmilla says with a shrug.  
LaFontaine glares at them, “Thanks.”  
“No problem.” Carmilla says, “Now do you think you can help me take out that manticore or are you going to take a nap here for a bit?”  
“Give me a second to catch my breath.” LaFontaine says, “Some of us still have use of oxygen, you know?” LaFontaine takes a few deeps breaths and then pushes themselves off the wall with a groan.  
“You alright?” Carmilla asks.  
“No, but let’s do this anyway.” LaFontaine says and begins to walk towards the manticore.  
“You sure are a determined little human aren’t you?” Carmilla says with a smirk.  
“What did I say before? We make the weird submit right?” LaFontaine says with a grunt.  
“I suppose we do.” Carmilla says .  
“You know I had a nice knock out gas that I was working on that would be perfect for this kind of thing.” LaFontaine comments, “Too bad it isn’t done yet.”  
“You’re working on something that doesn’t light on fire or explode?” Carmilla asks, “Color me surprised.”  
“Not everything I work on causes fires!” LaFontaine protests.  
“Sure it doesn’t, pyro.” Carmilla says and then shifts into her panther form.  
“Whatever.” LaFontaine says and Carmilla lets out a growl in response, “Alright, bring it on.” They say as they power up their flamethrower. Carmilla roars and charges at the manticore.  
Four hours later and battles are still being waged, though it has died down significantly. Most of the creatures have either been rounded up or destroyed. The four of them, Danny, Gwen, LaFontaine, and Carmilla are now boxed into a corner, surrounded by a bunch of iron golems. Their current forms of attack have had little effect so far and now they’re just trying to survive, dodging the blows of the large metal creatures.  
They’re standing side by side, covered in sweat and blood and dirt. Those that need to breathe are breathing hard. They’ve each collected several more wounds, even Carmilla who has a few cuts and bruises here and there. It’s looking dire at this point as Danny takes a heavy blow from a metal fist to the shoulder and a distinctive and unsettling pop can be heard. She drops to the ground, clutching her arm, and gives a short cry of pain. Gwen, now completely in wolf form, moves to stand over her in a protective stance, letting out a menacing snarl at the iron golem moving in closer.  
LaFontaine barely gets their axe up in time to deflect a blow from another iron golem and the force of the blow shatters their axe and knocks them back several feet until they slam into a wall behind them. They grunt from the force of the blow, sweat and blood dripping down into their eyes.  
Carmilla has managed to get her teeth and claws into one of them and is scratching and biting at it ferociously, but it’s not doing much against the metal creature. She jumps on its back to try and get a better angle or to find a weak point, but the golem just throws her off. She lands on the ground on her feet, skidding on the cobblestone surface.   
“What’s the plan here guys?” LaFontaine grunts out as they try and stand straight and tall. Gwen snarls and snaps at the golem approaching and Danny slowly tries to get to her feet, but struggles with one arm clutched to her chest.   
“I don’t know.” Danny says and swings her sword just to have it clang off the golem with little effect. The golem takes another swing at her, but Gwen leaps in front of the blow and takes a hard punch to the ribs, causing them to crack, and her to let out a yelp of pain. She drops to the ground for a moment and it looks like she’s either unconscious or worse.  
“Gwen!” Danny shouts, but a moment later Gwen gets up slowly and limps over to her, injured, but alive.   
“We have to figure out something!” LaFontaine shouts and then ducks away from a punch that pounds through the brick wall behind her sending debris everywhere.   
“Your flamethrower! Is that not working?” Danny shouts as she deflects another blow with her sword and groans as it pulls on her shoulder.  
“I’m out of the green foam!” LaFontaine shouts back and rolls away from kick.  
Carmilla leaps at a golem and gets a firm backhand which sends her sprawling away.   
“Fuck!” Danny shouts as she dodges a strike and dives away from another. This series of events suddenly leaves LaFontaine, stuck in the middle of three golems, with no one around them to help. LaFontaine looks around and sees their companions are gone.  
“Guys!” LaFontaine shouts as the three golems move in towards them, slowly inching closer. Carmilla, Danny, and Gwen look on in horror as they realize there is no way for them to get there in time to help. They try anyway.   
Carmilla and Gwen sprint towards the golems, only to be blocked off by two more. Danny tries to go around, limping towards them, but when she gets there and swings her sword, it does nothing and she can’t get past the line of metal they’ve made.   
“LaFontaine!” Danny shouts as she watches LaFontaine dodge a kick and then get a glancing blow to the right side that sends them reeling. She knows they probably can’t take a direct hit. Danny starts banging her sword against the golems over and over again until her sword breaks, but the golems don’t turn away from LaFontaine.  
The golems move in close enough to strike a final blow and raise their hands above their head as LaFontaine looks up at them, scared, but also resolute. They stare down their enemy and know that this is the end.


	27. Takedown

Just as the iron golems raise their hands above their heads to strike everyone hears a clicking noise and a low hum and then a shrill voice, “You stay away from my love!”  
The iron golems are yanked back at an alarming rate and not all at once. Hunks of iron are pulled off them bit by bit, back plates, shoulder plates, fingers hands, joints, eyes, heads, and everything else ripped apart and hurtling towards the electromagnet.   
Perry, who was holding it, just manages to drop it and run before the now disassembled iron golems come crashing down towards the device, cracking the ground beneath it with a loud bang.  
After the resounding sound of metal striking ground and the hum of the device stops from the force of the metal breaking it, the area they are standing in is eerily quiet. They can hear the sound of distant battles raging around them, but where they are is dead quiet except for the sound of heavy breathing. They all stand there, panting, sweating, bleeding, covered in dirt and muck, some barely able to stand, and they all burst into laughter.  
“Holy crapsticks.” LaFontaine says shaking their head and struggling to get to their feet as Perry rushes over to them, “Holy superpowerful magnet! Holy amazing girlfriend!” Once they get to their feet, they wrap Perry up in a tight hug and Perry squeezes them back, though a bit more gently.  
“Oh thank god you’re okay. Thank god, thank god, I thought you were dead.” Perry says, “I was so afraid, I was so afraid you were dead.”  
“It’s okay Perr.” LaFontaine says, “I’m okay now. You saved me Perr, you saved me.”  
They stay like that for several moments as the others come walking over. Danny steps up and claps Perry on the back.  
“Nice going.” Danny says with a smile. Both Carmilla and Gwen are still in animal form, but they both let out a roar of agreement.  
“Yeah, it was awesome.” LaFontaine says grinning, hugging her close again.   
Perry smiles and blushes and says, “Thank you everyone.”  
“So, do you think we can be done for the day?” LaFontaine asks and they hear a loud rumbling bellow coming from around the corner. There are several screams that follow after it and at least a hundred people come charging around the corner of the building running at full tilt, practically tripping over one another. Over the screams, heavy hoof beats can be heard and a moment later a glowing red bull, three times normal size, comes careening around the corner, snorting and puffing, and looking ready to charge the crowd.  
“You had to say it.” Danny says shaking her head at LaFontaine, “You just had to say it.”   
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” LaFontaine says shaking their head in return. They all face the bull and the two humans look at it exhausted, but even so, they both take a step forward. Danny limps two steps and winces before Gwen walks in front and snarls at her, making it quite clear what she thinks of Danny continuing on. LaFontaine barely makes it two steps, before Perry is pulling them back away from the bull.  
“We have to stop it.” Both Danny and LaFontaine say practically in unison.  
Gwen snarls again and shakes her head.   
“I can’t let you do this alone.” Danny says.  
Gwen nods towards Carmilla and then attempts to gesture towards herself to indicate that Carmilla and she would handle it. Danny looks about to protest, but Perry speaks from behind her.  
“Sit this one out.” Perry says, “Both of you.” She looks at LaFontaine as well who also looks like they were about to object, “You have done enough and if you go fight that thing, there is a good chance you’ll die. You won’t be helping them; you’ll be a hindrance right now. Let them go. They can handle this.”  
Danny and LaFontaine look at one another, both wanting to fight, but both knowing Perry was right. They nod somberly and step away.   
Gwen and Carmilla then look at one another, nod, and sprint off towards the bull which looks like it’s about to charge the crowd of people, now trapped in a dead end, left to only stand there and watch.   
Gwen moves to the left, while Carmilla moves to the right, and they both leap into the air, jaws spread wide as they clamp down on the creatures horns. They both pull down hard and the bulls head comes smashing down into the ground. It lets out a bellow of rage, but is unable to prevent itself from face planting into the dirt. Once it’s on the ground, Carmilla and Gwen both go for the neck, ripping it to shreds. The creature bucks and kicks, but can’t fight them off. Slowly the kicking subsides and the glow of the creature begins to dim. In a matter of minutes the creature is dead.  
Carmilla and Gwen then move away from the bull and transform back into their human form. Despite their supernatural abilities, they’re both exhausted, but not too worse for wear, although Gwen does clutch her side where her ribs are broken.   
They suddenly hear loud clapping and hoots and hollers and look up to see the hundred or so people standing there, applauding them, cheering for them. They’re both dumbstruck by the reception their getting.  
The other three move towards them, smiling.  
“Guys, that was awesome.” LaFontaine says.  
“Very good, very, very good.” Perry says.  
“Impressive.” Danny says.  
The two suddenly look very uncomfortable with themselves, especially as the crowd of people begins to move closer to them to come and thank them. The crowd surrounds them, shaking their hands, patting them on the backs, and even hugging them. Gwen and Carmilla can finally agree on one thing, they would really like to get out of there.  
Danny grins at the two of them and at the surrounding crowd, “I think I know what to call our club members.”


	28. She wears gray

The crowd slowly begins to move away from them and to gather elsewhere. The fighting seems to be mostly done and Carmilla and the others are ready to head back inside and take care of their injuries. Just as they’re heading back to the dorms through the crowd, a group of mediators up ahead comes back peddling around a corner, firing their weapons at something roaring behind the building.  
A few seconds later a large lizard like creature with a long, whip like tongue comes charging out and takes a snap at one of the mediators. The mediators continue to fire, but the lizard strikes out its tongue and snags one of them, wrapping him up, and drawing him towards its mouth.   
Carmilla and the group are about to intervene when another mediator from behind the lizard slides on the ground between the lizard’s legs, firing her weapon at the lizard’s vulnerable underbelly and ending up right underneath its jaws. She unloads another weapon right at the lizard’s neck and the lizard creature howls in agony.   
The girl rolls aside as the lizard stumbles forward, releasing the other mediator from its grasp, and then collapses into a dead heap upon the ground. The girl is helped to her feet by some of the other mediators, who pat her on the back and smile at her as they thank her.  
The girl waves them off and is about to leave with them when her eyes lock on Carmilla’s from about a hundred meters away.   
Carmilla has been frozen in her place since she saw the girl slide under the lizard’s body. Because in that instant she knew exactly who it was, but in the several minutes since her appearance hasn’t been able to process what she’s seeing.  
When the girl turns to face her and the others she hears several people behind her gasp all at once and LaFontaine says, “Is that…”  
“No…” Perry begins, “It can’t be.”  
Carmilla, realizing that what she’s seeing isn’t some vision, some trick, or some hopeful fantasy, finally manages to choke out one word, “Laura?”  
There’s a flash of emotion across Laura’s face too quickly for Carmilla to see and then her face twists into an almost comical mask of rage. She stares at Carmilla with such hatred that Carmilla feels as if Laura has struck her across the face. She can almost feel the sting of the slap.   
Then she says four words that cut into Carmilla like a knife, a cold, sharp knife right into her heart, “Stay away from me!” The words are full of loathing.  
Before Carmilla can do or say anything, Laura turns on her heels, her fists clenched in anger, and storms away into the crowd. Some of the other mediators look back at Carmilla in confusion, then understanding, and then disgust as they look at her. They follow Laura into the crowd and disappear.  
The others rush forward to go after her, but Perry and LaFontaine return a few minutes later shaking their heads, Laura not in tow. They say something about Gwen and Danny, but Carmilla is barely comprehending anything that is going on around her. She feels like she can’t breathe, even though she doesn’t need to. Her body is rigid, stiff as a board, her face blank. She stares off into the distance, where Laura stood just moments ago, and replays what she saw over and over again in her mind.   
And suddenly Carmilla is sitting on her bed, her whole body slumped downward. She doesn’t remember moving from where she was on campus to inside her dorm room, but here she is now, sitting on her bed feeling...well she isn’t sure how she feels, but it’s the worse she’s felt in a very long time, like the world has been ripped out from under her. She’s unsure if she stands up; there will be anything there to hold her in place. She feels as though she’ll probably just fall forever into darkness and that darkness will swallow her alive.   
The whole world seems darker and her vision is narrowed to just what is in front of her. She hears muffled voices and then looks up to see red hair, which doesn’t tell her much about who is talking.  
She hears her name and it takes her several moments to realize someone is talking to her. She registers very little of what is going on around her. She hears her name again and then something is waved in front of her face, a hand.   
“She’s in shock.” A voice says, “She’ll come out of it in her own time. We need to leave her be.”  
“We need to snap her out of it.” Another voice says, “She has a hearing in five hours she needs to be ready for.”   
Five hours? Carmilla thinks, when did it become three in the morning? It was approaching midnight when she…when she…  
“You don’t think they’ll still have the hearing? Do you?” The first voice asks.  
“I wouldn’t bet on it being cancelled.” The second voice says, “And she needs to be prepared. She can’t be in this stupor when she goes.”  
“Give her some time. It’s been very traumatic for her.” The first voice says.  
“I know that, and I feel for her, I do, but unfortunately we don’t have time for that.” The second voice says and as Carmilla slowly comes out of her numbness she realizes it’s LaFontaine and the first voice is Perry.  
“Well, what are you going to do? Slap her?” Perry asks, harshness to her tone.  
“I don’t know, it’s an option.” LaFontaine replies.  
“If either one of you lay a hand on me, you will lose that hand.” Carmilla says and is puzzled by her voice, she almost doesn’t recognize it.  
She sees two figures rush towards her and almost wants to shrink back and cower from them. But she doesn’t. Perry gets to her first and kneels down in front of her.  
“Carmilla? Are you okay?” Perry asks.  
Carmilla can’t help, but laugh at the question. Is she okay? Is she okay? No she is most certainly not okay. The girl she is in love with, the girl who she can’t do anything without, the girl who she has been searching for the last few weeks with increasing anxiety hates her. There is no other way to describe that look on her face, the seething fire in her voice when she spoke those words besides pure, unadulterated hatred. And she has no idea why.  
“Perr, of course she’s not okay, what kind of question is that?” LaFontaine says.  
“Well, I’m just trying to get a gauge for…how not okay she is.” Perry says and turns back to Carmilla, “Carmilla, do you need anything? Is there anything we can do?”  
“Tell me Laura doesn’t hate me? Tell me I didn’t see her in one of those gray uniforms with that look on her face.” Carmilla says, a desperation creeping into her rather monotone voice. She clutches onto Perry’s sleeve, “Tell me that I imagined it all. Tell me. Please.”  
Perry looks at her stunned and then shakes her head, “I don’t know. I don’t know.”  
Carmilla releases her almost in disgust, “Then you’re no good to me, are you?”  
“I’m sorry I can’t…” Perry begins.  
“Just stop talking.” Carmilla says and Perry shuts her mouth, looking sad and hurt.  
“Carmilla, we all saw the way she looked at you, but it may not be what you think. Maybe she’s been brainwashed or something.” LaFontaine says.  
Carmilla feels a spark of hope inside her, but she pushes that down, “Maybe...it's possible...I don't know..” She cuts herself off as she listens to something. She hears heavy footsteps and angry breathing comes towards the door, “Oh, here we go.”  
“What? What is it?” LaFontaine asks, “What’s going…” They don’t finish as the door slams open and Danny bursts into the room.  
She takes two steps in, spots Carmilla, and then rushes towards her furious, “What did you do?! What did you do to her!?” She goes to throttle Carmilla, but Perry and LaFontaine block her path. Carmilla doesn’t seem to care.  
“Danny, Danny, Danny, stop!” LaFontaine says.  
Danny ignores them and continues, “There is no way she would become one of those gray shirted thugs unless you did something! Unless you pushed her there! I saw that look she gave you! She hates you, bloodsucker! She hates you! So what did you do to her?! Huh!? What did you do!? What the fuck did you do to her!?”  
Danny lunges for her over LaFontaine and Perry and manages to grab the front of Carmilla’s shirt with her uninjured arm. She drags her to her feet off the bed and bends down until they are face to face.  
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now, leech.” Danny practically growling at Carmilla as she does so. She pulls a stake out of her back pocket, “Give me one good reason.” She ignores LaFontaine’s and Perry’s protests and they try to grab the stake from her hand.  
“Go ahead.” Carmilla says in a voice without any emotion, “Kill me.”  
Danny hesitates when she sees the look on Carmilla’s face, “Aren’t you….aren’t you going to stop me?”  
“Why?” Carmilla asks, “Why would I stop you?”  
Danny lowers the stake and takes a step back, “You…you’re as broken up about this as we are…aren’t you? You had no idea either.” Carmilla doesn’t respond, she just stares blankly at the wall in front of her, “I’m sorry.” Danny says and puts the stake away. She sits down on Laura’s bed. Carmilla still doesn’t respond, “Is she…is she okay?” Danny asks the other two.  
The other two shrug and LaFontaine says, “I have no idea.”  
They hear hurried footsteps and then Gwen bursts through the door, out of breath, “Don’t..don’t kill her Danny! Don’t kill…” She notices that Danny isn’t attempting to kill Carmilla and says, “Oh…good. You’re not trying to…kill her.”  
Carmilla, despite everything that has happened, can’t help but smile slightly at the absurdity that just happened, “Did you just beg Danny not to kill me? You of all people, Gwen?”  
Gwen shrugs, looking embarrassed, “Just because I say I want to kill you on a regular basis, doesn’t mean I actually want you dead….I think.”  
“That’s nice.” Carmilla says in the same monotone voice as before and everyone sort of looks at each other concerned.  
“Um…okay.” Perry says and looks at how beat up Danny is, “Here let me take care of your injuries.” She gestures to Danny and begins rifling through a first aid kit, “I’ve already taken care of LaFontaine.” She looks over at Gwen, “You’re next.”  
“Is that a threat?” Gwen says with a smirk and Perry just chuckles to herself as she begins to check Danny over.  
“I think you have a dislocated shoulder.” Perry says, “But I can’t be sure.”  
“It feels pretty dislocated to me.” Danny says, “What makes you think it’s not?”  
“Cause if it was, you’d be screaming in pain.” LaFontaine says.  
“I’ve dislocated my shoulder before.” Danny says, “It’s dislocated.”  
“No way.” LaFontaine says and comes over to look at it. They examine her shoulder and arm ad look at Danny with a newfound admiration, “Holy Hephaestus it is.”  
“Do you think you can pop it back in for me?” Danny asks Perry.  
Perry nods nervously, “I believe so, but…it won’t be very…pleasant.”  
“Have something I can bite down on?” Danny asks and LaFontaine goes to grab a dishtowel which she rolls up and places in between Danny’s teeth.  
“Ready?” Perry asks and Danny gets a resolute look on her face and nod, “I need you to stay relaxed. LaFontaine, can you hold her other side to keep her in place.” LaFontaine moves forward and holds on to Danny’s other side.   
“Alright.” Perry says, “Here we go.” She takes a deep breath and then slides Danny’s elbow forward, like she’s rolling the ball back into its socket. Danny sucks in air from the pain. Perry continues to pull the elbow up and forward and then there’s a distinctive pop and Danny let’s out a cry of pain.  
“Son of a bitch!” Danny shouts and then rubs her shoulder with her good hand, “Ow, fuck, that hurt.”  
“How does it feel now?” Perry asks.  
Danny rolls it a bit, being careful, “It feels in place, sore, but not too bad.”  
“You need to ice it.” LaFontaine says, “And try not to use it too much.”  
“Will do Doc.” Danny says and looks at Perry, “And other Doc, thanks.”  
“Alright, let me take care of your other injuries.” Perry says, “You seem to have a few cuts and bruises on you.”  
“I think I may have also twisted my ankle.” Danny says and lifts her foot up to show Perry. Perry looks at it and pressed down lightly on her ankle. Danny sucks in air again and Perry frowns.  
“Yes, I think you just might have. Alright, I’ll take care of that too.” Perry says and looks over at Gwen who looks beat up, but not too bad, “LaFontaine, can you take care of Gwen while I take care of Danny.”  
LaFontaine nods and looks over at Carmilla, “What about her?” Carmilla is still sitting there on the bed, staring at the wall.  
Perry looks over at Carmilla and the concern on her face grows, “We’ll, we’ll deal with her next. We will. Let’s get the injuries fixed up first.”  
LaFontaine nods and the two of them get to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It gets worse, before it gets better


	29. Because you care

At 7:30 in the morning there is a knock on Carmilla’s door and then a note is shoved underneath it. Perry walks over to pick it up.  
Both Perry and LaFontaine had spent the night in Carmilla’s room with Carmilla as they were afraid to leave her alone. Danny and Gwen had left a few hours after Danny had charged into the room and although they wanted to stay, five in a room made it quite crowded, and they all agreed it was for the best. The two promised they would check in later and they left. They looked just about ready to pass out as they did so.  
LaFontaine and Perry then settled in for the night, taking Laura’s bed for themselves. They barely got any sleep though as they worried about Carmilla and what it would be like at her hearing that morning. Carmilla was still in a daze and had moved from sitting and staring at the wall, to lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. She hadn’t said a word for hours.  
Perry picked up the note off the floor and read it quickly. Some of the tension in her body seemed to drain out of her as she read and she sighed out.  
LaFontaine looked at her, “What does it say?”  
“They’re postponing Carmilla’s hearing indefinitely.” Perry replies, still looking over the note, “Something about the events of yesterday causing some of the members of the council to refuse to come until they could be sure of their safety. Once that happens, then the date of the hearing will be set.”  
“So, she doesn’t have a hearing today?” LaFontaine asks, confirming what Perry said as they felt hope swell in their chest.  
“Yes, it looks like she does not have a hearing today.” Perry says and a smile spreads across her face.  
“A stroke of luck for us, for once.” LaFontaine says a smile spreading across their face as well, “I can’t believe something worked out in our favor.”  
“Shhh.” Perry scolds, “Do not jinx it.”  
“Sorry, sorry.” LaFontaine says, “I’ll keep my mouth shut from now on.” They grin.  
“Yes, I highly doubt that.” Perry says, grinning back, she then frowns and rushes towards the bathroom, “Excuse me.” She runs into the bathroom and shuts the door. The muted sounds of retching can be heard throughout the room.  
“Oh Perr.” LaFontaine says, feeling the hope that was in their chest fade.  
“Well that’s just unpleasant.” Carmilla says, still staring at the ceiling. She doesn’t look like she’s budged an inch and LaFontaine knows she hasn’t slept all night. Just laid there and stared at the ceiling.  
“Oh, are you talking now?” LaFontaine asks turning around to face Carmilla.  
“I don’t know.” Carmilla says, “Are words coming out of my mouth? I can’t really tell.”  
LaFontaine groans and shakes their head, “You need to get a hold of yourself woman. Snap out of it.”  
“Easy for you to say. The love of your life doesn’t hate you. She’s throwing up in the bathroom, but she doesn’t hate you.” Carmilla comments.  
“So that’s it? You just give up?” LaFontaine asks, “The love of your life tells you to leave her alone for no apparent reason and you just roll over? Where’s the badass? Where’s the three hundred year old vampire who doesn’t take any shit? Where did she go?’  
“She’s dead. She died when her true love cast her aside, like yesterday’s newspaper. Her love has withered in a shorter time than a fruit fly lives and I am left here, in this darkest pit of my own emotions, to live my life never knowing what could have been.” Carmilla says pathetically, “So I will lie here and wither like her feelings for me, I will lie here until the dust settles on my body, until the building itself crumbles around me, until I am entombed here for all eternity. For I am already dead and when my body dies too, then I will not have to feel what I feel.”  
“Ugh, you’re hopeless right now. Fine, lie there. Wallow in self-pity.” LaFontaine says with disgust, “Be overly melodramatic and pretend like this is the end of the world. It’s not like we have important things to do. It’s not like this campus is inches away from tearing itself apart It’s not like we have to reschedule a general interest meeting because monsters decided to attack the school.”  
“Do you think I care about these things?” Carmilla asks.  
“I think you did.” LaFontaine says, “And I don’t think that was just because of Laura. I think you care far more deeply than you’d like to admit. You’ve always cared and that’s burned you in the past. So you close in on yourself, wall everything off, push everyone away, and think that’s the best way to live. Because if no one or nothing can get close, than nothing can hurt you.”  
“Thank you Dr. Freud.” Carmilla says, “Now, should I pay in card or check?”  
“But even after trying to push all your feelings away you still tried to rescue those girls throughout the years and that wasn’t just because you wanted to piss off your mother. You did it because you cared. And even after continuing to try to push all your feelings away, after you were hurt time and time again, you still fell for a little human girl who was headstrong and nosey and pissed you off to no end, but you fell for her anyway. Because you care.”  
“And look where that’s got me, Einstein.” Carmilla says, “No, I’d rather just stay here and get entombed then spend my days caring about anything anymore.”  
LaFontaine shakes their head in disgust, fed up with Carmilla, “Coward.” They mutter under their breath.  
“What did you just say about me?” Carmilla says and gets to her feet in a flash, suddenly standing right in front of LaFontaine.  
“I said you were a coward.” LaFontaine says with determination, with a moment of fear as they imagine Carmilla punching them through the chest.  
Carmilla glares at LaFontaine, “Say that again. I dare you, Egghead.”  
“You’re a coward.” LaFontaine says and Carmilla bares her fangs and lets out a snarl. She grabs LaFontaine by the shoulders and shoves them up against Laura’s bed.  
“What in good heavens are you two doing in here?!” Perry shouts shrilly at the two of them as she steps back into the room.  
Carmilla looks over at Perry and then at LaFontaine who is cringing and then back at Perry and then sighs, letting LaFontaine go, her fangs retracting back.  
“I’m sorry.” Carmilla mutters, “That was uncalled for.”  
LaFontaine brushes themselves off and straightens their clothing, gathering their composure as their heart beats a million times a minute, “That’s alright…I mean it’s not, but you get what I mean, whatever. I provoked you and I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry. You’re going through a lot right now and I should be more supportive or…something.”  
“Yeah well, you’re right. I am a coward.” Carmilla says, “She told me to leave her alone and instead of going after her to find out what was wrong, I just let her walk away because….because I was afraid of what she might say to me and I didn’t think I could handle it. I should have gone after her!”  
“We’ll find her honey, we will. And when we do, we’ll figure out what’s going on here. It’s some kind of misunderstanding. It is, it has to be.” Perry says.  
“I hope you’re right.” Carmilla says and sits back down on her bed, feeling her anger fade and the sadness she felt before wash over her again.


	30. Carmilla's song

Classes are cancelled for the rest of the day, leaving Carmilla with no distractions as LaFontaine and Perry have left to take care of themselves for a bit. Carmilla ends up lying there in bed for most of the day, not sleeping once again. She keeps running through that moment in her mind over and over, thinking about what she might have done to cause such a reaction, thinking about what she could have done differently. And the more she thought about it, the less sense it all made. The last thing she remembered of them, was her kissing Laura goodbye as Carmilla left her at her Dad’s house. They were good then, more than good, she was sure of it. At least, she thought she was, but the more she thought about it, the more uncertain she became until she was questioning everything about their relationship for the past year.   
She’s starting to go crazy and begins to think about leaving the room when there is a knock on her door. She feels her throat tighten as she wonders if it’s Laura, but then the door bursts open and Gwen and Danny walk in. Danny looks at her still lying on her bed and frowns.  
“Nice of you to knock, would have been nicer if you waited for an answer to come in.” Carmilla says with a scowl.  
“Where’s LaFontaine and Perry?” Danny asks ignoring Carmilla’s comment.   
“Back at their room.” Carmilla says.  
“Ah, okay.” Danny says shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. Gwen doesn’t look uncomfortable though as she strides into the room carrying her guitar and hops onto Laura’s bed.  
She looks up at Carmilla and then says, “God you look dreadful.”  
“At least I have a reason to not look good, while you on the other hand…” Carmilla says with a snarl.  
“Have you eaten anything at all since yesterday?” Gwen asks, getting up from where she was sitting and walking over to the fridge.  
“No.” Carmilla mumbles.  
“Thought so.” Gwen says and pulls out the soy milk container and pours Carmilla a cup of blood. She hands it over to her, “Here.”  
Carmilla sniffs it and then says, “You didn’t poison this did you?” A smirk creeps up onto her face as she says this.  
Gwen actually laughs and shakes her head, “No, unlike you, I don’t poison my friend’s drinks.”  
“Are we friends?” Carmilla asks, “That’s news to me.”  
“Oh shut up and drink your blood.” Gwen says and walks back over to Laura’s bed and sits down.  
Carmilla drinks some of the blood and begins to feel a bit better, though she’d never admit that to Gwen.  
“So, what brings this unwelcome visit from you two?” Carmilla asks as she spies the guitar and Danny still standing uncomfortably by the wardrobe.  
“We said we’d stop by.” Danny says, “So here we are.”  
“Yes, here you are. A werewolf and a coat rack pretending to be a human.” Carmilla comments, noting Danny’s stiffness.  
Danny attempts to relax, but it’s hard. In reality she and Carmilla haven’t spent that much time alone together outside of pummeling bad guys or each other. She wasn’t sure she’d even call them friends, though she also wouldn’t call them enemies anymore either. They were allies and comrades in arms, but beyond that they’d never really spent time together without Laura or LaFontaine and Perry. So for Danny, standing there, trying to be friendly towards someone she had often gotten into physical fights with and had never shared any kind of emotions with was proving difficult.   
But she felt for Carmilla, she did. Being rejected by Laura had hurt her last year, so in a way she kind of new how Carmilla felt, maybe not to the same degree, but at least in part. And from what Laura had told her and the others, and what she’d pieced together on her own, Carmilla has had a rough go of it, especially when it came to love. Did Danny like Carmilla? Not really. Did she think she deserved this though? No, absolutely not. Everyone deserved a chance at happiness, even the three hundred year old bitch of a vampire.  
“Sorry, this is weird.” Danny finally says and sits down next to Gwen.  
“Yeah, it is.” Carmilla replies, “I guess I could lie and say I appreciate the gesture, but as we all know, we don’t really like one another, so you trying to make me feel better is just…awkward.”  
“Who said we’re here to make you feel better?” Gwen asks.  
“Oh, then why are you here kibble breath?” Carmilla asks.  
“This room seemed like as good a room as any to practice my music.” Gwen says and begins to strum her guitar.  
“No, no, no, none of that here.” Carmilla says.  
“Why not? Don’t you want to hear your song?” Gwen asks with a smile.  
Carmilla freezes and then says, “You wrote me a song?”  
“It was part of our bet, remember?” Gwen asks.  
Carmilla thinks back and remembers, it was only a few weeks ago, but it feel s like a lifetime.  
“Fine, you can play it, but if it starts with ‘I’m over three hundred years old and I like to wear all black’, I will make you eat that guitar.” Carmilla says.  
“Scouts honor.” Gwen says with a smile and then begins to strum the guitar again. The tune is soft and airy and full of complicated patterns. 

Sit down all around me  
And let us discuss  
The former countess of Karnstein  
And reluctant hero of Silas

Three hundred years ago she died  
And rose as a vampire anew  
She was forced to serve her mother  
Until Lophiliformes she slew

She’s saved this campus here  
More times than I can count  
And faced more obstacles in one life  
Than most others could surmount

She’s our reluctant hero  
Our guardian in all black  
The snarky, sarcastic lover girl  
Who’s not afraid to hit back  
She’ll throw you out a window  
Or kill you with a sword   
She’ll light you on fire  
And always get the final word

So let’s hear it for Carmilla  
My ally, hero, and friend  
And although she likes to deny it  
Know that it is all pretend

For she cares about this campus  
And protects everyone here too  
Even if it’s something   
she doesn’t wish to do

She’ll save us all again  
I know that to be true  
And then just act like  
It’s something everyone would do

So thank you Carmilla  
Because when all is done and said  
If it weren’t for you helping us  
I know that we’d all be dead

She’s our reluctant hero  
Our guardian in all black  
The snarky, sarcastic lover girl  
Who’s not afraid to hit back  
She’ll throw you out a window  
Or kill you with a sword   
She’ll light you on fire  
And always get the final word

She’s our reluctant hero  
Our guardian in all black  
The snarky, sarcastic lover girl  
Who’s not afraid to hit back  
She’ll throw you out a window  
Or kill you with a sword   
She’ll light you on fire  
And always get the final word

 

By the end of the song, did feel a little bit better. She feels a rush of good emotions she hasn’t felt in weeks. She tries to push it down though because if there was one thing she would never admit, at least while she wasn’t under the influence of a magical high, was that she liked Gwen’s music.   
“What’d you think, Nightwalker?” Gwen asks as she puts her guitar away.  
Carmilla pretends indifference as she looks at her nails, “Eh, it was alright. It was better than most of your other songs, though that’s not saying much.”  
Gwen grins and nudges Danny with her elbow, “She liked it.”  
“I did not say that.” Carmilla says, “Basically it didn’t make me want show my fingers in my ears.”  
“You liked it.” Gwen says.  
“Fine, if you must tell yourself that, go ahead.” Carmilla says waving her hand dismissively.  
“You liked it.” Gwen repeats and Carmilla just shakes her head annoyed.  
“You’re an idiot.” Carmilla says, but a small smile creeps up onto her face, “Alright, now that we’ve gotten that over with, are we done here?”  
“No, not quite.” Danny says, “We have work we have to do. Things to go over.”  
“Great. Find Ginger one and Ginger two and go over that stuff with them.” Carmilla says lying back down on her bed, “I have my own things I need to attend to.”  
“And what exactly are those things?” Danny asks.  
“Well, the cracks in the ceiling aren’t going to count themselves, now are they?” Carmilla asks and begins to count the cracks out loud, “One, two, three…”  
“Stop that.” Danny says annoyed, “Be serious for once.”  
“I am very serious.” Carmilla says, “About not caring about any of this.”  
Danny throws up her hands in exasperation, “Why are you so difficult all the time?”  
“Why are you so difficult all the time?” Carmilla counters, “Can’t you see I just want to be left alone.”  
“Well you can’t be dead girl, cause you’re president of this club, which means you have responsibilities. Plus, we have to discuss what to do about Laura and I’d figured you’d want to be there for that.” Danny says.  
At the mention of Laura, Carmilla sits up and looks at the two of, “What do you mean what, we’re going to do about Laura?”  
“Well obviously she’s been brainwashed or something.” Danny says, “The last time I saw you two together you were disgustingly happy and by the look on your face yesterday I think that was true just a few weeks ago, before she came back here. Which means something changed in the time you were apart.”  
“And you think that something was the mediators brainwashing her?” Carmilla asks.  
“Or something like that. I mean the organization does seem a bit…zealous.” Danny says, “Maybe they’ve all been brainwashed or maybe they brainwash those they know will be against it.”  
“But why not take you or Kirsch or even LaFontaine or anyone else human who had the potential to resist?” Carmilla asks.  
“I don’t know.” Danny says, “Maybe they thought Laura was the biggest threat.”  
Carmilla laughs and then thinks about it for real, “Maybe you’re right.”   
“Laura may be small, but she’s fierce and determined and she’s spearheaded two campaigns to stop things on campus she felt were wrong.” Gwen says, “That could be scary for anyone.”  
“She’s got follow through.” Danny says, “She stops at nothing and has a way of convincing others to join her.”  
“She has people following her into battle.” Gwen says.  
“I know I would…I have.” Danny says.  
“As have I.” Gwen says.  
Carmilla smirks and says, “Me too, obviously.”  
“As have many others.” Danny says, “For an organization like the one taking over this school, they had to have known she’d be a problem.”  
“So you’re saying they nipped it in the bud?” Carmilla asks getting to her feet abruptly, “You’re saying they took my Laura and turned her against me!” Carmilla starts to feel angry, very, very angry. She wants to march into the Dean’s office and rip off her stupid head. She snarls and ends up slamming her hand into the desk, smashing it in two.  
“You keep going like that and you won’t have any furniture left.” Gwen comments, but Carmilla doesn’t care. Carmilla is enraged. These people think they can meddle in her life, in Laura’s life. They think they can just come in and invade Laura’s mind like that? Just change the way she thinks, just because they didn’t like the way she thought before? It was beyond disgusting to think about. It made Carmilla so angry that she was afraid she was going to light the whole room on fire and a part of her kind of just wanted to let that happen.  
But she calmed herself a bit, though she was still shaking with rage, “I am going to kill the Dean.”  
Suddenly, the blaring alarm goes off and they all freeze in place.  
“Do you think they heard you?” Gwen asks, suddenly nervous.  
They all stay where they are, listening until they hear Perry in the hallway shouting about a town hall meeting.  
“Oh, it’s just a town hall meeting.” Gwen says and then thinks for a moment, “Wait, why do we have a town hall meeting?”  
Danny gets up off Laura’s bed, “This can’t be good.”  
“No it cannot.” Carmilla says, “But come on.” They all get up and leave the room, heading towards the meeting.


	31. Town Hall Meeting

Carmilla, Danny, and Gwen make their way to the town hall meeting. They don’t speak to each other most of the way there, but are surprised to find a lot of other people speaking to them. Mostly it’s just people waving or saying hi, but there are a few who attempt to strike up a conversation or ask about their club. And Carmilla notes that it isn’t just supernatural students, but human students as well.   
The campus is still tense with what happened yesterday and there is still the ongoing segregation, but there is a slight change. It’s small, but noticeable enough. Carmilla isn’t quite sure how to describe it, but it feels as if things may have gotten better between the two sides, like they are looking at one another as fellow students instead of enemies.   
Carmilla feels her dark mood lighten somewhat, but just barely. She finds it strange though that people are attempting to talk to her. Like they look at her and don’t see someone scary or monstrous anymore, but instead see someone they could chat with. It’s disconcerting and a little annoying if she were being honest.   
She doesn’t speak to anyone unless they directly speak to her and even then she keeps it to mainly monosyllabic answers. Danny and Gwen speak mostly, which Carmilla is grateful for, but once again would never admit to them.  
They get to the meeting about ten minutes later and find LaFontaine and Perry already there. They sit down next to them and Carmilla looks out at the sea of seated students in the large auditorium. All the mediators are seated together, making a gray wall off to one side of the room. Carmilla wonders if Laura is somewhere in there, but doesn’t spot her.  
Carmilla looks around at the rest of the audience and sees a bit of a split between humans and supernatural, but there’s more mixture than she expected. Carmilla spots a few faces she recognizes and sees the purple haired girl who was leading the protest two rows in front of her.   
There is a low murmur in the audience as people talk to one another, the general conversation centering on what they think the meeting will be about. It doesn’t seem like anyone knows the answer and when Carmilla listens in on the mediators she finds them to be mostly silent.   
“What’s this about?” Carmilla hears Danny lean over and ask Perry, thinking she might know.  
However, Perry gives a small shrug and shakes her head, “I don’t know. I assume about what happened yesterday, but what they might wish to talk about, I am unsure.”   
They wait there for another ten minutes before several mediators file onto the stage at the front. The low murmur begins to die down as everyone turns to watch them. After the mediators line up on stage, another group comes in, the campus security, all dressed in black, step up and line up in front of the mediators.  
“A lot of security.” LaFontaine mumbles and the others nod in agreement. Carmilla looks around the room and notices a lot of campus security and mediators standing in different areas or walking down the aisles.   
A minute later the sound of high heels can be heard clacking against linoleum floors and then the Dean walks into the auditorium. Carmilla’s whole body goes rigid when she spots her and it takes everything she has in her not to rush up onto that stage and rip out the woman’s throat. Instead, she grips the seat underneath her so hard that she bends the metal and glares at the woman, imagining every which way she will torture her before she kills her, when she gets the chance.  
The Dean doesn’t look out at the audience at first, she just walks up the steps onto the stage and stands at the podium. She’s followed by the nervous looking man and the toad like woman and some other teachers and school officials who move to sit down in the chairs behind her.   
The Dean shuffles some papers on the podium in front of her, reading through her notes, not making a sound. She does this for several minutes as the audience stares up at her quietly. After several more minutes she finally looks up and she doesn’t look very happy.  
She clears her throat and speaks in a clear, firm voice, “All supernatural students, please rise.”  
The quiet dissipates as students begin to speak to one another in confusion. The low murmur begins to get louder and louder, but no one stands.   
The Dean becomes angrier and then says, even louder, “Rise. Now.” The talking stops instantly and several students stand up as if compelled to do so. Perry looks as if she is about to stand, but LaFontaine puts a hand on her shoulder and she stays in place. Neither Carmilla nor Gwen stand.  
“That is not everyone. Get up. Now. All of you or there will be consequences. And don’t think I don’t know who you are.” The Dean says, glaring out at the audience.  
There is another long drawn out silence, all the other supernatural students begin to stand, this time including Gwen. Carmilla doesn’t stand though, she sits there glaring at the Dean, her grip on the chair growing tighter. The Dean’s eyes rake across the crowd and she spots Carmilla, sitting there. Her eyes as cold as ice stare at Carmilla. Carmilla’s burning with fire stare back at her.  
“Miss Karnstein.” The Dean says in a clipped tone, but Carmilla still doesn’t stand. The Dean nods to several of the mediators walking nearby and they begin to converge on Carmilla, hands on their weapons. Carmilla slowly and stiffly gets to her feet, her fiery eyes never leaving the Dean. The Dean stares back, but eventually turns away and looks out at the rest of the audience.  
The Dean watches the crowd, waiting for everyone, and once they have all stood, she begins to speak, “So, what do all of you have to say for yourselves?”  
The silence in the room is practically deafening. Carmilla doesn’t wish to use the cliché that you could hear a pin drop, but she thinks she distinctly hears a pin drop not four rows in front of her, it’s so quiet.   
“Well?” The Dean asks and everyone looks at each other in confusion.  
Carmilla finally fed up with what seems to be an accusation speaks, “I don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, but if it’s an apology you will not get it from me or anyone else in this room.”  
“Ah, Miss Karnstein, I should have known you would voice such an opinion.” The Dean sighs out, shaking her head as if disappointed, “So I assume you feel no remorse for what happened? You don’t feel bad about all the lives lost, all the people injured?’  
Carmilla grits her teeth for a moment and then shakes her head, “Of course I feel bad about what happened, but I don’t feel responsible for it and neither should they.” She gestures to the audience, “Most of the people standing here had nothing to do with the events of yesterday and many of them risked their own lives to save others. So if you’re asking for an apology, you won’t get one. Though a thank you from your side would be nice for once, not that I expect we’ll get it.”  
The Dean laughs, actually laughs and shakes her head, “Are you delusional? A thank you? You want a thank you after what your kind has done? I can’t believe this. You have no shame do you? It’s unbelievable. A thank you! Over one hundred students died yesterday due to the events of the alchemy club, a notoriously magically centered club. A club that released all those monstrosities, those supernatural entities onto campus. What do you have to say to that?”  
“I say you’re delusional if you think that’s what happened!” The purple haired girl shouted from where she was standing.  
“Excuse me?” The Dean asked.  
“You think the alchemy club did this on purpose?” The girl asks, “Why? Why would they do that?”  
“The alchemy club is a reprehensible organization that has little regard for human life and has openly opposed this organization since its inception. An attack on our campus was expected, perhaps not to this scale, but it was expected from them.” The Dean says, “They wanted to strike at us, weaken us.”  
“You think we attacked the campus?” A boy standing near the front asks and Carmilla recognizes him from the alchemy club.  
“Are you an alchemy club member?” The Dean asks.  
“Yes, I’m the president.” The boy says, “And we did not attack the campus! I don’t know how those creatures got out. But it wasn’t us. Someone let them out. I don’t know who but…”  
“And I’m just supposed to believe that?” The Dean interrupts, “That someone just let those creatures loose, but it wasn’t you?”  
“I’m telling you we didn’t do it. It makes no sense. We’ve spent decades collecting those creatures for study. Releasing them would be forfeiting all that hard work, plus all the potential future research, it just doesn’t make sense.” The guy says.  
“Were these creatures incredibly dangerous?” The Dean asks.  
Well…yes, they were, but they were appropriately contained and I don’t know…” The guy begins.  
“So, you’re admitting to stockpiling essentially dangerous weapons on this campus for your own purposes?” The Dean asks.  
“What…no…that’s not what I’m…” The guy says.  
“So at best, you’ve displayed extreme negligence and at worst you directly attacked this campus.” The Dean says.  
“Negligence? Those creatures were contained! Someone did this on purpose!” The guys shouts.  
“So now you’re passing the blame to someone else.” The Dean says, “How responsible of you. I think I’ve heard enough. Security, escort him out of here. You are expelled from this school.”  
“What?!” He shouts, “You…you can’t be serious!”  
“I am very serious.” The Dean says, “Security, get him and all the alchemy club members off this campus immediately. You are all expelled.” She looks at some paperwork in front of her, “I have a list of all the club members right here. If you do leave with security right now, you will be escorted out much more forcefully, and it won’t be pleasant.”  
“You can’t do this!” The guys shouts, “You can’t!” Security moves in on him and they drag him out of the building.   
“What about us human students?” A girl asks from the audience, “The alchemy club isn’t just made up of supernaturals.”  
“You will be getting disciplinary sanctions. You will receive a letter when the appropriate punishment is decided upon.” The Dean says.  
“What!?” The purple haired girl shouts, “You’re expelling just the supernatural students? You can’t do that!”  
“Yes, I can.” The Dean says and watches as the rest of the alchemy club is led out of the auditorium, “And as of now, the alchemy club is officially disbanded.”  
“You conniving little…” The purple haired girl begins, but gets such a scathing look from the Dean that she shuts up immediately.  
“Sit down.” She says, “Everyone.” All the standing supernatural students sit down at once, “I know that many of you have been on this campus for a long time. You have talked to each other, eaten with each other, made friends with each other, and forged relationships with each other. Humans and Supernaturals have consistently mingled with one another and the acceptance of that hasn’t changed. What has changed is our attitude towards supernatural students who…misbehave, who go against our laws and the natural order of things. In the past, every problem that has arisen on this campus has been caused by a supernatural occurrence. Whether that be from demonic attacks, elder gods, vampire cults, or the alchemy club experiments gone awry, time and time again human students have paid the price of being a part of this campus. The humans of this school have been prey and cannon fodder for far too long. But we will not allow it any longer. We will not lie down and roll over and let the supernatural element of this campus control us anymore. I understand that the tragedy of yesterday affected many on both sides, but out of the one hundred and thirty seven students who lost their lives, one hundred and two of them were human. That is nearly seventy-five percent of the casualties. And excluding the events of last semester, running the statistics of past supernatural events that led to loss of life, the majority of students who have died have been human. This needs to stop. That is why we are here. I know many of you think the measures that are in place are rather harsh, but I want you to know that we take the deaths of students very seriously. And until it has been proven to us, that this campus can be a safe place, we will continue to use these harsh measures. So, go ahead and protest, make your little clubs, and whatnot, but know that this does not change the fact that students have died and we are here to protect those who remain. So supernatural students, hear me now, you are on thin ice right now with the events of yesterday. Behave and you can find you way to becoming a part of our society, a fully-fledged human citizen within a semester. Resist and the ice beneath you will crack and you’ll plunge into the freezing waters below. We will not hesitate to expel or disband your group…” She looks directly Carmilla as she says this, “…if we consider you or your clubs and organizations to be dangerous to the rest of campus. So be good and perhaps in a year’s time you’ll find this campus the way it was before, only safer.” She then nods and says, “You are dismissed.”   
The Dean files out of the room, followed by her entourage of security, leaving the auditorium in dead silence for a good thirty seconds. Then it erupts into loud and somewhat confused chatter as people begin to discuss the Dean’s speech.  
The mediators in the room get up all at once and leave in an orderly line out of the room. Carmilla searches for Laura, but once again doesn’t see her. Once the mediators are gone, the remaining students begin to get up and leave as well.   
“Well, that was terrible.” LaFontaine says shaking their head, “Those poor alchemy students, who knows what will happen to them.”  
“Yes and what she going on about? Stockpiling weapons or whatever, that was just ridiculous.” Gwen says, “Sure the alchemy club has some containment issues at times, but intentionally attacking the campus, that’s just…”  
“Ridiculous?” The purple haired girl says, suddenly appearing in front of their group.  
“Well, yeah.” Gwen says looking over at her.  
“That’s because it’s a farce.” The girl says.  
“What do you mean?” LaFontaine asks, “You’re saying they were what…framed?”  
“Do you really think it’s a coincidence that the club that was leading the charge against this organization suddenly had such a grand mishap and is now disbanded?” The girl says.  
“So you’re saying it was intentional.” Danny says, “That what, the Dean released all the creatures?”  
“Well, I doubt the Dean was the one to actually do it.” The girl says, “But I assume she was involved. The alchemy club was about to start causing real problems for them, so they took care of it.”  
“But students died.” Perry says, “How could they approve something that caused so much loss of life?”  
The girl shrugs, “I don’t know. Maybe they just don’t care.”  
“I don’t know.” LaFontaine says, “Why go through all this trouble? Why not just disband the club without all this fuss. She’s the Dean, couldn’t she just do that?”  
“No.” Both the girl and Perry say at the same time. The group looks at Perry who just shrugs.  
“Why not?” Carmilla asks.  
“Because of the bylaws.” The girl says.  
“Bylaws? What bylaws?” Gwen asks.  
“The one’s in the archives.” The girl says and then continues, “There is a long process that a club has to go through to be disbanded and that is only if there is reason for it. The only way to get a club disbanded instantaneously is if they cause damage to the school in some way or they are shown to be a direct threat to students on campus.”  
“So, the alchemy club is spearheading the protests against the organization and causing trouble.” LaFontaine says, “The organization realizes they have a problem because what, the alchemy club was actually getting somewhere? So, they try to disband the club, but find these bylaws in place which they cannot break. So they, what, stage a mass supernatural creature jail break from the alchemy club pens, and then blame the chaos on the alchemy club?”  
“And then use the events to pit the two sides against each other once again.” The girl says, “She didn’t just blame the alchemy club, she blamed the entire supernatural student population. “  
“Why though?” Danny asks, “It makes no sense. I mean, blaming the alchemy club thing kind of does because they were resisting them. Although, I’m not sure I buy the fact that the administration was behind this because why would the administration let students die to meet their own…” Danny pauses, realizes what she’s saying and then laughs darkly, “You know what, that makes total sense. That happens on this campus all the time. The administration never cares about students. But anyway, what doesn’t make sense to me is pitting the students against one another. I know that they implemented these rules because they wanted to make students safer, but it feels more like they’re trying to separate us, divide us, not bring us together. Why blame all the supernatural students? Why create more animosity?”  
The girl shrugs and begins to move away from them, “When you figure that out, let me know.” She then leaves the group to themselves.   
The group looks at one another, beginning to wonder if their club will have any effect at all. LaFontaine looks at Carmilla and Carmilla knows they’re thinking about what the demonic spirit in the library basement told her, about it all being a façade.   
Danny lets out a sigh, “This is all getting so murky.”  
“It always does.” Carmilla says, starting to feel her anger fade again and sadness overwhelm her.   
“We still need to set up a new general interest meeting.” Perry says, “I mean, we’re still going through with all this right?” The group is silent for several moments.  
“Yeah, we are. We can’t let them win.” Carmilla says, “If what eggplant head over there says is true, then the organization running this campus is directly responsible for student deaths. And I won’t have that, not again. We deserve better.”  
“Agreed.” Danny says, “I’m sick of powerful organization rolling in here and using us for their own ends.”  
“So, what does this mean?” Perry asks, “Are we going to continue our peaceful integration? I’m not so sure that will continue to work.”  
“And look what the protesting has done.” Gwen says, “It got all of the alchemy club expelled and students were killed in the process.”  
“We still continue with our plan.” Carmilla says, “And those who want to protest should continue to protest. We can’t let them stop us from doing what is right. But there is more here going on than we think.”  
“You think they have an ulterior motive?” LaFontaine asks.  
“I do. I don’t know what that is yet, but I can bet you it won’t be pretty.” Carmilla says, “And we can’t let them get away with it. We can’t let them plan and ultimately hurt us.”  
“So we use the club as a front.” LaFontaine says and they all look at them confused, “Not quite a front really because we’ll actually be using it to protect students on campus and do all the touchy feely things we planned. But while they’re looking at us doing all that stuff, we come at them from another angle, we investigate them, figure out what they’re up to, and if they’re doing something bad, which they probably are, we fight them on it. Like we always do.”  
“Here, here.” Danny says with a nod.  
“So we in this guys?” LaFontaine says.  
“As always.” Danny says.  
“Let’s make this campus a better place! All hands in!” LaFontaine shouts and puts their hand into the center of them. No one else does it, “Come on guys.”  
“Uh, no, that’s lame.” Carmilla says, “We’re not a cheerleading squad.”  
“Yeah, but we’re a team. And teams do this kind of stuff.” LaFontaine says, “Come on, hands in. Shout dimwit squad on three.”  
“You know I used that as a derogatory term right?” Carmilla says, “It isn’t something you should be proudly shouting to the sky.”  
“It may have started that way, but we’ve made it our own.” LaFontaine says, “You know, like yankee doodle.”  
“I’m sorry, did you just have a stroke?” Gwen asks, “Were those words?”  
“What are you talking about?” LaFontaine asks.  
“You just said yankee doodle, dear.” Perry says.  
“Yes, those are words. It’s an American folk song.” LaFontaine says, “You know, during the American revolutionary war or maybe before that. The British sang the song mocking the American soldiers, but eventually the Americans began to sing it and it became a patriotic song for them. How do you two history buffs not know this?” They say pointing to Gwen and Carmilla.  
“Excuse me for not memorizing every factoid about American history.” Carmilla says, “How do you know it, you’re not even American.”  
“I don’t know, I pick things up. Whatever, you get the point. It used to be a mocking song, now it’s patriotic. So dimwit squad was once derogatory, but now we’ve taken it as our own, made it our title.” LaFontaine says, “So come on, hands in, let’s do this.”  
“Alright, if it’ll get you to shut up about yankee doodle or whatever.” Carmilla says and puts her hand in. The others follow suit.  
“Alright, on three.” LaFontaine says, “One, two, three…dimwit squad!” They all shout it at once and get a few funny looks as they do so, as they’re still in the auditorium.  
“No one is going to join our club after that.” Danny says.  
“Nope.” Carmilla says shaking her head.


	32. New and Dreadful Information

Over the next week tensions are high. Even though it seemed like things were cooling down, after the events of the town hall meeting, things have just gotten worse. The line between the two sides is more clearly drawn as human students and supernatural students begin to socialize with their own kind. Arguments across campus are practically a daily occurrence and several small fights have broken out in bars in town and once in the library. Supernatural students are continually bullied and on two separate occasions students have been found severely beaten. The worst culprits of discrimination are the mediators who constantly harass the supernatural students at every turn and write them up for minor or even made up indiscretions  
Protests continue across campus, tending to be peaceful, but Carmilla is unsure how long that will last as the supernatural students grow angrier and angrier as time passes, rightfully so. Although not violent, one student did fill the Dean’s desk with frogs, which she wasn’t too pleased about, but Carmilla found rather amusing.   
Carmilla continually tries to look for Laura, especially now that she knows she’s alive and well, although maybe not mentally. But once again, Laura has vanished, and she hasn’t been able to find her anywhere on campus. Meanwhile, she also has to run a club and figure out what the Dean is actually planning for this campus. Needless to say, she’s feeling a bit strung out.  
But on Wednesday night, even though she doesn’t really feel up for it, she goes over the short speech she is going to give to the new club members once they show up. She mentally repeats it in her head, over and over. She’s nervous though. She can’t believe she’s nervous. She’s an over three hundred year old vampire who has been in duels, faced down the barrel of a gun, been trapped in a coffin for eighty years, fought an elder god, and demons, and monsters, and all manner of others things, and yet she’s nervous about standing in front of a crowd of practically children giving a speech. She shakes her head at how pitiful she’s become.  
The meeting is set for seven and seven o’clock rolls around. Two people enter the room a little before seven. Three more enter just at seven. And about ten more enter the room in the next ten minutes. Finally five more people enter by the time it is seven thirty. Producing a total of twenty people sitting in the room. Carmilla is a bit disappointed by the turnout and can see from the looks on the others’ faces that they are as well. Carmilla is also disappointed by the fact that Laura isn’t here. A small part of her had hoped that maybe Laura would show up, but she didn’t.  
But despite her disappointment, Carmilla steps up and stands in front of the assembled group. She’s about to start when she hears the door up and looks up hopefully, thinking she might see Laura walking in late. Instead she sees the purple haired girl stepping in and standing near the back. She doesn’t smile at Carmilla, but just gives her a nod.  
Carmilla then clears her throat and begins to speak, “Hey all welcome to SPATULA. That may seem like a stupid name, and it is.” Some in the audience laugh and she smirks, “But it holds meaning for us. It stands for the Society of Peace between the Abnormal, Transdimensional, Unearthly, Less-Magical, and Amagical. Our organization, our club is all about peace between humans and supernatural beings. Our goals are simple. Our first goal is that, we want to protect the students from any harm they might be subject to on this campus, whether that harm is to human or supernatural students and by human or supernatural students, our first goal is to make sure that this campus stays a safe place for everyone. And we mean everyone. We are not the mediators out there, picking sides and creating chaos. We are our own force, that will go out and ease tensions, prevent conflicts when they can, and if they have to intervene.   
Our second goal is education. There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding between the two sides. Humans misunderstand supernatural beings, supernatural beings misunderstand humans and this causes problems between the two groups. Our job is to make things clearer, to educate people on who we are and what we are.  
Our third and final goal, is socialization, the joining of the two groups. We will hold events, parties, fundraisers, mixers, whatever we need to, to allow the two sides to come together, work together, have a good time together, and show that we’re not so different after all.  
Our ultimate goal is the unification of this campus as one, so that we can all come together and stop this organization, show them what they are doing and how they are doing it is wrong. And as potential club members, your goal is to help us with that.   
The Dean and her organization have created sides on this campus where none existed before. We used to be unified once, but now we view each other as different, as enemies, as something to be feared. But we’re going to bring everyone together once again. We’re going to show this school that we can create a safe environment for everyone, and unlike the Dean, we’ll do it in a way that doesn’t segregate the two sides.   
We can make this campus a better place, because we all deserve better. “  
She finishes her speech and looks out at the audience. They begin to clap and she feels something swell inside of her. At first, she doesn’t know what it is and then she realizes it’s pride. She’s proud of herself. She can’t believe it. Its been so long since she’s felt proud of her own actions.   
She feels someone clap her on the back and turns to see LaFontaine, “Good work Prez.”  
“It was cheesy wasn’t it?” Carmilla asks.  
“You sounded like Laura.” LaFontaine comments.  
Carmilla groans, “So it was super cheesy.”  
“You’ve gone soft and gooey, like melted cheese Prez.” LaFontaine says with a laugh.  
“Don’t ever forget that I can kill you with just a twitch of a muscle.” Carmilla says to them.  
“Oh I know, but you won’t. Because you’re all soft and gooey now.” LaFontaine replies with another laugh and then walks to the front to begin speaking.  
Carmilla shakes her head and moves towards the others. The others are smiling and they tell her she did an awesome job. She just nods and shrugs, feeling uncomfortable with the praise. She looks over at the crowd and watches them as they look at LaFontaine explaining about how they’re going to execute their plans. She sees mainly supernatural students, but a few humans here and there too, which gives her hope. She looks over at the back of the room and sees the purple haired girl again. The girl is looking at her and when she sees Carmilla look, she waves her over, and then leaves the room.  
Carmilla scowls and then follows her out of the room.  
“Nice speech you have there, Presidente.” The girl says and then gives a mock salute.  
“What do you want?” Carmilla snaps.  
“Friendly, aren’t we?” The girl says slyly, but then sees the murderous look on Carmilla’s face and gulps. She then becomes serious, “The Dean is up to something.”  
“We kind of figured.” Carmilla says, “Since you basically told us that. I still don’t know what it is though.”  
“I know, neither do I.” The girl says, “But it has something to do with the library.”  
“The library?” Carmilla repeats, “What makes you think that?”  
“The other night I was studying late, when I saw a bunch of mediators with heavy equipment heading down into the lower levels.” The girl says.  
“What kind of equipment?” Carmilla asks.  
“Like, diving gear I think?” The girl says, “But anyway, they headed down there and a few hours later they came back up, looking pretty battered and beaten. I don’t know what they’re after down there, but it can’t be good. I mean it’s the library after all.”  
“You’re right, it can’t be good.” Carmilla says thinking, “But why did you come to me with this?”  
“You have a reputation of dealing with this sort of thing.” The girl says with a shrug, “I thought you’d be interested.”  
Carmilla nods and says, “Alright, fair enough.” Then Carmilla adds, “Speaking of the library, I’ve had no luck finding these bylaws. You said they were in the archives, but I’ve looked through there several times over, nothing.”  
The girl looks surprised, “What? But there were like three copies when I looked before.”  
“They’re not there now.” Carmilla says.  
The girl groans, “Ugh, the Dean, she probably took them.”  
“That would be my guess. Doesn’t want us knowing our rights or anything like that.” Carmilla says.  
“No, of course not.” The girl replies.  
“Do you remember all of the bylaws?” Carmilla asks.  
The girl laughs, “No of course not. I don’t have an eidetic memory or anything like that. I remember, like three laws. That’s pretty much it.”  
“I was hoping.” Carmilla says with a shrug, “Alright well, anything else?”  
“No, that was it.” She then looks into the room, “It looks like your club is going okay.”  
Carmilla frowns, “Not as well as I would have liked.”  
“Hey, I only had ten people show up to my first rally. Now we’re approaching nearly five hundred. Give it time, it’ll work out. It’s not a terrible idea. Maybe not as aggressive as I would like. But not terrible.” The girl says.  
“Yeah, I don’t know when I became this pansy ass, diplomat type, who’d rather hold hands and make peace then kick ass and take names.” Carmilla says more for herself than for the girl.  
The girl laughs, “Probably when you got a girlfriend. It makes us all a little more lovey dovey, doesn’t it?”  
Carmilla smiles and nods, and then feels a pang of heartache as she thinks about Laura.  
The girl sees the look on her face and frowns, “Oh yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. I’m sorry about you and your girlfriend, such a shame.”  
Carmilla nods and then her head snaps up abruptly, “What did you say?”  
“I said it was a shame about you and your girlfriend, you know, breaking up and everything.” The girl says, looking confused.  
“We…we didn’t…break up.” Carmilla says, feeling that tightness in her chest again, like she can’t breathe, “Where did you hear that?”  
“It’s all over campus.” The girl says, “I overheard some mediators discussing it. They were saying some pretty nasty things about you. It sounded like the break up was pretty messy.”  
Carmilla feels like her body has gone several degrees colder. She feels dizzy, like she’s going to pass out, and she still feels as though she can’t breathe, even though she doesn’t have to.  
The girl looks at her concerned, “Are you okay?”  
“Yes…I’m fine.” Carmilla chokes out, “Thank you…what’s your name?”  
“Bianca.” Bianca says.  
“Yes..thank you Bianca…for the…information.” Carmilla says. She knows her voice sounds strangled, but she doesn’t really care right now.   
“Alright…” Bianca says shaking her head, “Well, I’m going to go. Stay safe, you know?”  
Carmilla nods at her and as soon as Bianca is gone, leans up against the wall behind her and feels her legs buckle. She drops to the floor and feels that overwhelming sadness take over her again. Her vision dims and her mind seems to shut down.  
She finds herself back in the classroom they were holding their meeting in. Everyone has left and she’s sitting at one of the desks. She looks down at her hands and sees some small bruises beginning to form there. They’re also covered in a white dust, like drywall or something. She wonders why that is.   
She looks up when someone says her name and sees LaFontaine, “Carmilla!”   
“What?” Carmilla asks, her voice thick in her throat, “You don’t have to shout. Damn.”  
LaFontaine lets out a relived sigh and then shakes their head, “God damn it, Carmilla, you have to stop doing this.”  
“What’s going on?” Carmilla asks confused, “What happened?”  
“We could ask you that?” Danny says appearing in Carmilla’s vision.  
“I don’t know.” Carmilla says and then looks around at the empty room, excluding LaFontaine, Perry, Danny, Gwen, and Kirsch, “Where did everyone go?”  
“They left.” Gwen says, “The meeting is over.”  
“The meeting is over, but…” Carmilla trails off, “I don’t remember.”  
“You disappeared on us.” LaFontaine says, “You walked out with that purple haired girl. We found you hours later, pounding your fists into one of this building’s bathroom walls.”  
“There’s now a hole in the bathroom wall.” Gwen says, “Actually several. Actually the whole bathroom was pretty much wrecked. Looks like you did a number on it.”  
“I don’t remember that.” Carmilla says, “Did anyone see? Did I ruin the…”  
“No, the meeting ran fine honey.” Perry says, placing a caring hand on her arm, “Danny took over for you and we got fifteen people to join, which I think is a very good start. So don’t worry about that. You worry about yourself dear. What happened to you?”  
“Yeah bro, are you alright?” Kirsch asks, “You don’t look so good.”  
“I…” Carmilla begins and then remembers her conversation with Bianca. She begins to feel herself lose it again and then shakes her head, trying to focus, “I’m fine. It was nothing. I’m going to go back to my room and sleep. I’m tired.” She gets up to leave and everyone looks confused.  
LaFontaine puts a hand on her shoulder, “Hold up. You’re not alright. That’s obvious. Talk to us. Come on, we’re friends.”  
Carmilla turns to look at all of them and feels completely numb. She doesn’t know why she’s here, standing with all of them. She doesn’t know what she’s doing fighting for this school that never cared for her. She just doesn’t feel anything anymore and can’t seem to muster up any emotion.  
“You’re not my friends. You never were my friends. I don’t know why I thought this would work. I don’t know why I tried. Lunacy of old age perhaps. Maybe I’m going senile. But this is ridiculous. This whole thing is ridiculous. Why do I even care about any of you? Why do I care about what happens on this campus? Why didn’t I just leave weeks ago?” Carmilla says.  
“So, what are you saying? Are you leaving us?” Perry asks confused.  
“I don’t know.” Carmilla says with a shrug, “Probably. I just don’t really care anymore.”  
“So, what? You’re just giving up?” Danny yells as Carmilla begins to walk away.  
“If you never really cared about any of this in the first place, can you really give it up?” Carmilla asks turning back to her.  
“What kind of crap is that?” Danny shouts, “Get over yourself!”  
“I’m not going to argue with imbeciles and dimwits.” Carmilla says, “You’re just not worth my time.” She begins to walk away again.  
“Well fuck you then!” Danny shouts, “Get the fuck out of here! We’re done with you! We don’t need you! “  
Gwen puts a hand on Danny’s arm, “Danny, come on…”  
“No, I’m done with her bullshit!” Danny shouts, “If she wants to leave, then fine. She can go fuck herself.”  
Carmilla doesn’t respond as she leaves the room. LaFontaine and Perry look at each other worried, knowing that something is terribly, terribly wrong.


	33. Grappling Hook

Carmilla lies in bed for five straight days without sleeping or drinking blood. At first, the group bangs on her door nearly every hour, trying to coax her to open it, to talk to them. The only person she doesn’t hear at the door is Danny, though she isn’t really surprised. She doesn’t respond. She doesn’t even look over at the door. She hears them try and break in a few times, but the door is locked and she’s pushed the wardrobe in front of it.   
As the days pass, the visits become less and less frequent. Until, on the fifth day, only LaFontaine and Perry knock on her door and they only do it once. She doesn’t answer.  
On the sixth day, she’s beginning to feel the effects of not having eaten, but doesn’t seem to care and makes no move to get up and drink some blood. She’s counting the cracks in the ceiling again, when around three o’clock she begins to hear something repeatedly slamming into the wall outside. Every few minutes or so she hears something bang against the wall and then a muted curse. She doesn’t really care though and just continues to stare at the ceiling. After about an hour of this something shatters through the back window and then hits the wall with a dull thud. Carmilla vaguely thinks that this is the third time this window has been broken before slowly turning around to face it. Despite being generally apathetic about everything right now, this has peaked her curiosity enough to warrant a look.   
Her brow scrunches in confusion when she sees what appears to be a grappling hook sticking out of the wall with a rope draped down through the now broken window. She then hears people talking. Someone is talking quickly, with a worried tone to their voice, while the other is more excited than worried, and trying to reassure the other. Carmilla groans, knowing exactly who this is.  
For the first time in six days Carmilla gets up from her bed and moves to the now broken window to stare down at two red heads below.  
“…be fine.” LaFontaine says to Perry, “It’s tight in the wall, see.” They tug on the rope and it doesn’t go anywhere. Carmilla looks down and sees some kind of device strapped around LaFontaine’s chest and back, with the rope projecting straight out of it. It looks like some kind of harness.  
“Well excuse me for not liking the idea of you climbing up three stories!” Perry says a little shrilly.  
“I’m not climbing.” LaFontaine says, “This will bring me up.” They tap onto the device.  
“That doesn’t make it much better. You’ll still be dangling far too high into the air for my liking.” Perry says.  
“Perr, we have to do it. We have to make sure she’s okay.” LaFontaine says and then looks up to see Carmilla standing by the window staring down at them, “Carmilla! Hey! Good to see you! Do you think you could open your door so I don’t have to use this thing?”  
Carmilla doesn’t respond, just stares down at them.  
“Alright, I take that as a no.” LaFontaine says and then pushes a button on the harness. There’s a clicking sound and then then the harness begins to rise with LaFontaine inside of it. LaFontaine looks up at Carmilla staring down at them and gets a sudden disturbing thought, “You’re not going to stop me from coming in are you?” Afraid that Carmilla might remove the grappling hook while LaFontaine is still hanging from it.  
Carmilla continues to stare down, doesn’t say anything, but does take a step back from the window. She thinks the whole thing is absolutely ridiculous. Though she does commend their efforts. She just wished they would leave her alone. Why do they keep trying? Why do they think she’s worth the effort? She’ll never understand it. She was human once, but it’s been so long and she feels sometimes as if she no longer understands them. Why is this human potentially risking their life to see if she’s okay, especially after what she said to them? Carmilla shakes her head. They were fools, and imbeciles, and dimwits, the lot of them.  
After about fifteen minutes of clanking sounds Carmilla sees red hair and then LaFontaine appears in the window. They look at Carmilla standing there watching them and see how gaunt she’s become. She looks less like a vampire and more like a ghoul.  
They look at the window and then suddenly realize they’re mistake, “I…uh…didn’t think about the glass.” They say, seeing only a relatively small hole where the grappler smashes through, but no room for LaFontaine. And they couldn’t open the window, seeing as the rope was hung over the closed frame. They look for something on them to smash the rest of the glass, but find nothing suitable. They’re now stuck, hanging three stories up.  
“Uh…a little help?” LaFontaine asks, hoping desperately that Carmilla isn’t so far gone that she’ll leave Laf hanging off the side of a building.  
Carmilla rolls her eyes and walks over to the window. She then breaks the rest of the glass around the frame, making sure as to not hit LaFontaine with it. Once the glass is gone, LaFontaine struggles to climb into the room. They manage to get one leg over and duck through the window, collapsing ungracefully onto the floor below with a thud. Carmilla doesn’t help them get in or up, just watches them with disdain.  
LaFontaine then stands up and brushes themselves off. They unhook the harness and place it on the ground. They then look up at Carmilla and the dark room behind her. The room itself is unlit expect for the now open window, streaming sunlight into it. Carmilla stands back from the sunlight, hidden in shadow.   
Everything else is dark, especially the back of the room, but from what LaFontaine can see is a thin layer of dust coating every surface. The air feels thick and stale. LaFontaine gets the faint impression that they’ve walked into a mausoleum. Like they’re disturbing the dead by being here. It’s disconcerting.   
Carmilla doesn’t say anything, she just stares at them.  
“So….” LaFontaine begins and even though they are talking quietly, it feels far too loud in this room, “How have you been?” It was a joke, meant to lighten the mood, but Carmilla doesn’t even quirk an eyebrow at them, doesn’t even roll her eyes, or shake her head, or scowl or frown. She just stares back at LaFontaine.  
“Come on, give me something. Say something.” LaFontaine says, running a hand through their hair.  
“What would you like me to say?” Carmilla finally speaks. Her voice is low and gruff; her voice feels hoarse as she speaks.  
“I don’t know. Tell me what happened?” LaFontaine asks, “Something obviously happened to make you hole yourself up in here, to make you smash up that bathroom. What did that purple haired girl say?”  
“Nothing important.” Carmilla replies, “Nothing that mattered.”  
“It obviously mattered because it affected you.” LaFontaine says, “What happened?”  
“Why do you care?” Carmilla asks, “Why are you here?”  
“Cause we’re friends Carmilla and I was worried about you.” LaFontaine replies.  
Carmilla laughs darkly and shakes her head, “Friends. I thought I made it quite clear that we weren’t. Are you that stupid? Did you not hear me? Was I speaking in gibberish? We’re not friends. I don’t want us to be friends. I don’t want any friends.”  
“Well that’s utter bullshit if I ever heard it.” LaFontaine replies without hesitation and Carmilla looks up at them surprised, “You’re angry and upset, I get it. But there’s not need to take it out on us. There’s no need to withdraw from the world. And I don’t care if you think you don’t want friends, too bad. You’ve got them. You’ve got people who care about you. Who will talk with you, be there for you, fight for you, climb three stories up the side of the building for you. That’s not going to change, no matter what you do.”  
` “I could kill you.” Carmilla replies and LaFontaine shakes their head.  
“You’ve been threatening to kill me for a year now.” LaFontaine says, “They’re just words at this point.”  
Carmilla snarls and steps towards them, “Want to bet your life on that theory you’ve got there brainiac?”  
“You’re not going to kill me.” LaFontaine says, “What would Laura think if you killed me?”  
“I don’t care what Laura thinks anymore!” Carmilla shouts and then spins around and punches her fist straight into the wall.  
LaFontaine nearly jumps from the abrupt change in emotion, but manages to not yell out.  
“I don’t care what she thinks!” Carmilla shouts again, “She doesn’t get to control how I act anymore! She doesn’t get to tell me what to do! She doesn’t get to make me feel the way I do about her!” Carmilla spins around and stares at LaFontaine, “She doesn’t get to make me love her anymore, but…” There is a broken tone to Carmilla’s voice and LaFontaine feels their heart sink.  
“Come here.” LaFontaine says gesturing for Carmilla to sit down on her bed, “Sit down. Tell me what happened.” LaFontaine sits on Laura’s bed and waits for Carmilla to speak.  
There is a long silence before Carmilla finally lets out a sigh and says, “We’re broken up apparently.”  
LaFontaine sucks in air and then shakes their head, “Who told you that?’  
“Bianca.” Carmilla says and when LaFontaine gives her a confused look, she says, “The purple haired girl who shouts and whatever.”  
“Oh right.” LaFontaine says, “Her. Why did she tell you that?”  
“She was saying how sorry she was about it or whatever.” Carmilla says.  
“And you believed her?” LaFontaine asks.  
“Why wouldn’t I?” Carmilla says, “What reason would she have to lie?”  
“Who knows what that girl’s motives are.” LaFontaine says, “But let’s say for a second she was telling the truth or at least she thought she was, it could just be a rumor, it doesn’t mean it’s true.”  
“She said she heard it from some mediators, that it’s all over campus.” Carmilla says.   
“Well that’s even less of a reason to believe it then. The mediators could be saying this shit because they know it’ll hurt you. They’re using this against you Carmilla cause they know it’ll break you and they’re afraid of what we can do.” LaFontaine says.  
Carmilla looks up at them, a frown on her face, “Do you really think that’s it?” Her voice is small and unsure and LaFontaine has never see Carmilla look so very young. LaFontaine forgets sometimes, that even though Carmilla is this three hundred year old badass vampire, that she’s also a person too, who can be sad, upset, and vulnerable. That she is someone who can be affected so deeply by a breakup with her girlfriend.   
“I do. Or Laura is brainwashed.” LaFontaine says with a shrug, “Either way, I don’t think the breakup is real. Either way, we still have to fight. We still have work to do.”  
Carmilla nods, “We still have work to do.”  
“We have to get your girl back.” LaFontaine says.  
Carmilla smiles for the first time in days, “I have to get my cupcake back.”


	34. Riot

The group spends the next week working on things for their club. They split the club into two groups, the Wolves and the Panthers. The Wolves are meant to be out in the daytime, patrolling, making sure that things are going smoothly around campus. The Panthers are the night guardians and since there is a curfew for supernatural folk, they have to be much stealthier about their movements and their actions.  
They also plan for their next social event. It’s more a mixer and educational experience than party. The theme is nature, so people should come dressed as different aspects of the natural world. The point is to educate the campus about the different types of nature spirits, guardians, and other creatures that have a connection to nature that inhabit the Silas campus.   
Carmilla continues to search for Laura with no luck. She thinks she spots her once a distance away, but in the seconds it takes her to get there, she’s gone.   
LaFontaine, as self-proclaimed webmaster, is also working on trying to get the news of what is going on at Silas out there to the world, but is having some unexplained difficulties.  
“See look, I’m posting what’s going on to all the major social media sites, but there’s something weird going on.” LaFontaine says.  
“What do you mean by weird?” Carmilla asks.  
“Well, sometimes my posts just disappear.” LaFontaine says, “Like seconds after I post them, they’ll just vanish. But if that doesn’t happen, if they stay up, there’s still something weird going on. Come here, read these comments.” They point to some of the comments.  
Carmilla walks over and begins to read, “So, they seem pretty normal. A bit idiotic, but it’s the internet, what did you expect.”  
“Okay, so that’s twitter, right?” LaFontaine says and then clicks to a new page, “And here are messages and comments on tumblr.”   
“Okay…sure.” Carmilla says and begins to read them, she widens her eyes in surprise, “A lot of these are the same. Like verbatim.”  
“Yeah, it’s not super obvious, but it’s almost like they’re bots or whatever.” LaFontaine says.  
“So what does that mean?” Carmilla asks.  
“I’m not quite sure yet.” LaFontaine replies, “I’ll have to look into it.”  
Carmilla shrugs, “Alright Goldblum, let me know if you figure anything out.” LaFontaine nods and Carmilla can hear them typing away as she leaves their room. Carmilla makes her way outside, umbrella in hand as it’s a sunny day, and goes through searching the campus for Laura once again. It’s almost a routine now. First she searches near the fine arts buildings, then the social sciences, then the math and science buildings, the food courts, the gym, etc., etc. , until she makes it to the administration buildings.   
She hears it before she sees it. She can hear chanting coming from somewhere near the administration buildings. She hears someone speaking into a bullhorn and recognizes it as Bianca’s voice. Bianca had been setting up a protest nearly every other day for the past few weeks. It was a basically a fixture of the campus now, practically on the tour. Carmilla imagined the tour group moving across campus, the tour guide chattering along.  
“And on your left you can see the gym and on the right you can see our very own college protest going on. See that purple haired student there, she thinks she’s making a difference, but she’s really just making a lot of noise. Now let’s move along folks. Who wants to see the dormitories?”   
Carmilla shakes her head and comes around the corner of a building to actually see the protest in front of the administration buildings. She’s surprised by the turnout on a Wednesday afternoon when most students are either in class or doing work. There’s at least five hundred people standing in front of the administration buildings, shouting and cheering along with Bianca. Carmilla has to admire her energy, she sure can frenzy up a crowd, without having them go overboard.   
She begins searching the crowd for Laura, not expecting to find her there. She spots some mediators standing back from the crowd, but Laura isn’t with them either. The mediators are watching the crowd with disdain, their hands on their weapons, but not making any move to do anything. Carmilla moves along the outside of the crowd, her eyes searching for any sign of her girlfriend.  
She spots someone with a dark hoodie on, the hood covering their face, sneaking through the crowd. She frowns, wondering what that’s about when the person begins to sprint towards the front of the gathering, one of their hands in their pocket, shoving through people as they do so. Carmilla knows this can’t be good and attempts to make a move to stop him or her, but she’s too late as the person nears the front, pulls something out of their pocket, and hurls it forward.   
At first Carmilla is afraid the person is aiming it at Bianca, but the object flies past Bianca and strikes the glass doors in front of administration building. It shatters the doors and bounces around inside the building for a couple of seconds before a loud explosion can be heard and a ball of fire comes roaring out of the building. The force of the explosion knocks Bianca off her podium and into the audience and knocks several people over. The chaos is nearly instantaneous.  
One minute it’s a peaceful gathering, the next people are running and screaming. Carmilla sees a horde of mediators come running from behind the buildings, as if they were waiting for just this moment. They run into the crowd, striking anyone within arm’s reach with their electrified batons. Some other mediators begin to fire tear gas into the crowd and others fire their tasers.   
Most of the crowd is trying to flee, but there are so many people packed into such a small area that they can’t get away. Others are staying to fight and she sees one student’s arms light on fire as he charges at a mediator. Another grows claws and takes a slash at a nearby mediator who strikes at her with a baton. She hears a lovely singing voice off to her left and turns to see a girl humming into a dazed mediator’s ear. The girl walks away and the mediator drops to the ground in a stupor.   
Carmilla is not too concerned about herself, knowing how resilient she is until she spots another vampire take two taser prongs to the chest and drop to the ground like a rock. Carmilla realizes the organization must have modified weapons specifically made for supernatural creatures and suddenly feels the need to get out of there.  
When the students begin to fight back the chaos just gets worse and turns from a mob trying to bolt, to a full on battle. Carmilla spots a level six beginning to power up and sees several mediators flee the area. She then sees a more high ranking looking mediator pull out a remote of some kind, push a red button on it, and several students abruptly drop to the ground convulsing. She sees they all are level sixes and Carmilla worries for a moment about Perry.  
That worry doesn’t last long as Carmilla dodges a stray bolt of some kind of energy. Carmilla begins to try and back away from the fighting, but finds herself right in the midst of it. Ducking a blow from a stun baton and then the firing of a taser, she attempts to make it to the edge of the battle. She enters an area filled with tear gas and quickly runs away from it hissing, as her flesh begins to burn, realizing its tear gas mixed with a bunch of other chemicals, one of which is holy water.   
She turns and tries to find an escape when she spots a bruised and battered Bianca, lying on the ground, getting pummeled by two mediators. She takes two determined steps forward and then a glint of something metal on the rooftop of the nearest administration building catches her eye. She looks up to see someone lying on the roof, holding a large rifle of some kind. She barely has time to realize that it’s aimed right at her when something slams into her hard, knocking her off her feet and onto the ground.   
At first she thinks she’s been shot, but then she hears the firing of the weapon and sees something whiz overhead. She feels a weight on top of her sprawled body and looks up in shock to see a slightly beat up, slightly dirty Laura sitting there.  
“Stay down.” Laura hisses to her, powering up a baton in her hand, but not making any move to use it. Laura is looking around at the confusion in a focused panic, her head whipping around so much at every sight and sound that Carmilla wonders how she isn’t getting whiplash. She also keeps glancing up at the now empty rooftop every so often as if to check that no one is up there.   
Carmilla is a bit dazed, but not by the tackle per se. She’s more dazed by the fact that Laura tackled her in the first place and is now sitting on top of her, hand on her chest, other arm raised with the baton. Carmilla sees something rolling towards her and realizes it’s a bullet. She examines the bullet and sees that it’s not any regular bullet, but a metal shell which has mostly been melted away by the firing, and a wooden core. Carmilla’s eyes widen as she realizes how close she just came to being killed. The organization running this school just tried to kill her. And Laura had just saved her life.  
“What…” Carmilla begins, but Laura silences her.  
“Shhh.” Laura says, “Not here.” She looks up at the rooftop again and says, “I think he’s gone.” She looks back down at Carmilla, “I’m sorry. I’m going to have to taser you with this thing.” She indicates the baton, “It’s for your own safety right now. I’m so sorry about this Carm.”   
She moves her hand down to strike Carmilla with it, but Carmilla shouts, “Wait!” and Laura freezes, she then points over to Bianca who is still being beaten, “Save her.” Laura looks over and nods, then strikes Carmilla with the baton and she blacks out.


	35. Meeting in the Dark

Carmilla wakes up what feels like hours later, but can only really be minutes as she can still hear shouting and yelling, though it is less frequent. She’s lying flat on her back under the shade of a large tree. Her head is resting against a root and the rest of her is lying in the grass and she finds that’s she’s far more comfortable than she expected to be. She blinks a few times as she realizes that she’s not in the same place she was when she blacked out. She was lying on cobblestones before in the middle of the chaos, but when she lifts her head to look around she finds that’s she far away from the commotion, out of danger.  
Laura must have dragged her here for safety. Then Carmilla sits bolt upright as she remembers Laura. She remembers being tackled to the ground, almost getting shot, and Laura saving her. Laura calling her Carm.   
For some reason, despite the events of today, she feels a bit better, though more confused than ever. She’s about to get to her feet and make her way back to her room when she realizes she has something in her hand. She opens it to find a note written in Laura’s handwriting.  
Meet me in the North Woods at midnight tonight. Where the dryads died last semester. You know the place…I hope. See you then. :)  
Carmilla reads the note three more times before she can even process what she is reading. Laura wanted to meet with her? Tonight? And there was a smiley face?   
Carmilla tucks the note into her pocket and makes her way back to her room, trying to figure out what the hell is going on here, but unable to come up with any answers.   
Once Carmilla is back in her room, she thinks briefly about telling the others about Laura and everything that has happened in the past hour or so, but decides against it. She knows they’d want to join her into the woods to meet Laura, just to make sure she was safe and had backup, but Carmilla didn’t want that. This confrontation she wanted to do alone, without the prying eyes of Laura’s friends However it turned out, she didn’t want the dimwit squad to be there. So instead, she avoided the group as much as possible for the rest of the day, only making brief conversation with Perry about the upcoming mixer.  
Her plan of avoiding everyone and everything until the night was foiled though when she heard a knock on her door around six o’clock. Carmilla is confused by the knocking as no one she knows well knocks on her door anymore, much to her annoyance. So anyone who is knocking is probably not someone she wants to talk to anyway. She thinks about ignoring the person until they knock again and then a third time, their knocking becoming more desperate with each attempt.  
Finally on the fourth try Carmilla leaps to her feet and wrenches the door open to glare at the small girl standing on the other side. For a second she thought it was Laura, but instead she finds someone else standing there. Carmilla recognizes her from somewhere, but can’t seem to remember where or remember her name.  
“Hi, uh…I was…” The girl begins, but Carmilla interrupts.  
“What do you want?” She snaps out.  
The girl looks a bit affronted, but schools her face quickly, “I…uh…heard about your club and wanted to join.”   
“Oh.” Carmilla says, “We meet on Mondays and we have some kind of event usually each week which should be posted on our website calendar. Come to one of those.” She goes to close the door, but the girl wedges herself in between.  
“I just think it’s so brave what you’re doing.” The girl says.  
“Thanks…” Carmilla trails off unsure of the girl’s name.  
The girl looks a bit hurt, but says, “Laka.”  
“Right, Laka.” Carmilla says, now sounding even more annoyed, “How did you find me here, in my room?”  
“Oh…uh…someone mentioned you lived in this building and I asked the nice floor don which room you lived in.” Laka says.  
“Just to ask about the club?” Carmilla asks, “Why didn’t you just check the website?”  
“I just….wanted to ask in person…it seems better.” Laka says.  
Carmilla quirks an eyebrow, confused, “Okay, fine.” She moves to close the door more forcefully this time.  
Laka takes the hint and steps back, “Well, also, I wanted to say sorry to hear about you and your girlfriend. Such a shame.”  
Carmilla tenses and her stare becomes cold, “That is none of your business.”  
“Sorry, sorry, I just…well the girl is obviously an idiot for breaking up with you.” Laka says.  
Carmilla’s eyes go quickly from cold to fiery as she snarls out, “What did you say about Laura?”  
“I just…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you…just that anyone who would break up with you is a moron.” Laka says, standing her ground, albeit nervously.  
Carmilla practically growls, “Do not speak of things which you do not understand or you will sorely regret it.”  
“Sorry, sorry.” Laka says and backs up, hands raised in front of her in a placating gesture, “I’ll leave you be.”  
“That is a wise plan.” Carmilla snaps and continues to close the door.   
Just before the door shuts she hears Laka shout, “When you’re finally over her, give me a call! I’ll be around.” A piece of paper is slid under the door and Carmilla picks it up to see Laka’s number on it. She crumples the paper in her hand and tosses it back to the floor. Done with all social interactions for the rest of the day.  
At around eleven thirty Carmilla sneaks out of her room. It was past curfew for supernatural creatures so Carmilla had to be extra careful moving around campus. But fortunately she didn’t run into any trouble and only had to hide from a small group of patrolling mediators one time. Once she made it into the North woods she wasn’t too worried as she found that no mediators really ventured in there. Even they were afraid of the creatures that lurked in the woods.   
Carmilla makes her way through the woods with little trouble though. But the farther she gets from campus, the more nervous she becomes. She hasn’t spoken or even seen Laura for weeks and then suddenly she turns up out of the blue making that face. Carmilla can see that face clearly in her mind and every time it makes her whole body shudder and her heart ache. Getting a look of pure hatred from someone you love so dearly is hard enough, but with no explanation of it, no reason for it that she can think of makes it all the worse.   
And then later, hearing from a complete stranger that they had broken up, that was the worst. Carmilla was so lost and confused and angry. She continues to run through everything in her head trying to figure out what went wrong and when. What she might have done that was so horrible that Laura could barely even look at her. But Carmilla couldn’t think of anything and that scared her even more.   
So, here she was, alone in the dark, somewhere she normally liked to be, and instead she felt sad and vulnerable. And any unwanted emotion like that quickly turned to anger for Carmilla. She felt a fire boiling up inside her. A rage that she’d never felt towards Laura before, but was feeling it now. She was truly and deeply angry with her and she hated it, which just made her even angrier.   
But she kept herself calm enough to make it through the woods and into the clearing where the dryads had been murdered last semester, their agreed upon meeting place. Or well, the meeting place Laura had decided upon.   
Once there she stood in the middle of the clearing. The dryad bodies had long been cleared out and buried near their trees. There was no sign that anything violent had ever happened here. Unless of course you were a vampire. She could still smell the faint traces of dried blood in the area, but even that was fading. Someday, not even that would be there and the pain and suffering of the forest spirits would be forever lost.  
Carmilla found herself thinking these morbid thoughts as she stood there glumly, her mind heading towards the darker places to match her mood.  
She stood for five minutes before scowling and sitting down as there was no sign of Laura yet. She stared up at the sky, the moon, and the stars. It was a surprisingly clear night and the stars shone brightly this far out into the woods, away from the campus and civilization. The moon was only a sliver in the sky, in the middle of waning. It was a colder night, with a chill creeping into the air that might warrant a heavier jacket if she concerned herself with such things.  
Ten minutes passed and Carmilla began to wonder if this had all been a trick. That Laura had never intended to come at all and Carmilla was making a fool of herself waiting out here for her. Her thoughts drifted to an even darker place and Carmilla wondered if perhaps Laura was setting her up, that there were dark solider like figures lurking in the woods, waiting to take her out. She cleared that from her thoughts quickly as Laura had only just recently saved her life. She wouldn’t have done that if she intended to then get her killed.  
Another five minutes passes and Carmilla pulls out the note with Laura’s quickly scrawled handwriting on it just to make sure it was real, that she hadn’t imagined the whole thing. As time ticks by Carmilla contemplates getting up and just leaving when she hears something in the trees.  
She tenses up, getting to her feet quickly as she prepares for an attack, but as she listens closer she hears only one heartbeat, one person breathing heavily in the night as they stumble and curse their way through the woods. Carmilla laughs to herself as she realizes that it is Laura, struggling to make her way through the woods in the dark. She can hear the poor girl cursing at the varied plant life that hinders her trek and can’t keep herself from letting out a chuckle as she hears Laura give some very choice words to some kind of shrubbery with thorns.   
Eventually, after another ten minutes or so, Carmilla can see the movement of branches and leaves on the edge of the clearing and then Laura emerges. Despite everything that had happened these past few weeks, despite the fact that Laura was wearing a mediator uniform, despite the fact that she was covered in dirt, mud, leaves, and twigs, she was still the most beautiful thing Carmilla had ever seen.   
And then she smiles at Carmilla, a bright, beaming smile, and Carmilla has to revise her previous assessment because that was the most beautiful thing Carmilla had ever seen.   
Laura begins to brush dirt off her clothes, which does very little for her appearance and then says, slightly breathlessly, “Hey, sorry I’m late, got caught up in a meeting and then I’m pretty sure the forest was being vindictive towards me for wearing this stupid uniform.” Then she strides forward, grabs Carmilla by the sides of her face, and kisses her passionately.   
Carmilla is startled, but doesn’t resist and for one brief shining moment she forgets everything and they merge together as one as if no time has passed. But then, all too soon reality floods back in and Carmilla pushes Laura away.  
Laura looks a bit confused, but it doesn’t even come close to the confusion on Carmilla’s face, “Laura…what…what are you doing?”  
“Kissing my girlfriend.” Laura says with a smile, “I thought it was obvious.” She leans in and goes to kiss her again, but Carmilla takes a step back this time and places a hand on Laura’s chest to stop her. Laura looks at her even more confused and slightly hurt.  
“I…what…I…er….I can’t…I don’t…I…and you…this….” Carmilla stutters out, unable to string more than two words together, let alone an entire sentence she is so confused.  
Laura smiles and shakes her head amused, “I’ve never seen you speechless before, it’s kind of cute.” She then places a hand on Carmilla’s face and says, “But I thought you’d enjoy this whole cover of darkness, star-crossed lovers thing.” She goes in to kiss her again, but Carmilla pushes her back and shakes her head, finally able to get control of her whirling thoughts.  
“Laura, what the fuck is going on!” Carmillla shouts, an edge of desperation in her voice.  
Laura is taken aback by Carmilla’s tone and blinks a few times, before saying, “What do you mean? Didn’t you get my note?”  
“Note? What note?” Carmilla asks, “This note?” She holds up the small, quickly scrawled out note she received the day before.  
“No, the one I left with my Dad.” Laura replies, “I figured once you saw that I hadn’t returned to campus, you’d look for me, and one of the first places would be back at my house. I left my Dad a note he was supposed to give it to you explaining everything. Did you not get it? Did he not give it to you?” Laura suddenly looks very worried.  
“Laura, I can’t leave campus.” Carmilla says, her tone more frantic, “I can’t leave campus! They have some kind of barrier up! I can’t teleport away! “  
Laura’s eyes go wide, “What….that…that means…no…you didn’t get my note?” Carmilla shakes her head and Laura goes pale enough to give Carmilla a run for her money, “Oh god, oh god, oh god! I assumed you would get the note! I assumed you would know! But if you didn’t get the note, then I was just gone! I just disappeared! You’ve known nothing! Oh god, oh god, oh god. And then you saw me…and I gave you that look, and I said stay away, and I was wearing….and…and oh god…what you must think…you think…oh god.” Laura begins to hyperventilate, clutching her hand to her chest as obvious panic overwhelms her.   
Carmilla has mixed emotions as a part of her just wants to tell Laura it’ll all be okay, to reassure her that everything is fine, but she doesn’t know that. She doesn’t know anything really and she’s just so confused and frustrated, “Laura, Laura, Laura, stop saying oh my god! You need to tell me what’s happening! I’m clueless here, cupcake! I have no idea what’s going on! I came back to campus and you were just gone! You never showed up and I couldn’t leave. I thought something had happened to you here, so I stayed.”   
Carmilla feels herself losing it as she speaks. She’s trying to hold it together; she’s been so good at holding it together for so long. Well maybe not good at it, as she’s basically blacked out twice and destroyed a bathroom, but under the circumstances she felt it was pretty good. But with the rollercoaster of emotions she’s experienced these last few weeks, and now seeing Laura here, being with her, she can’t keep it in any longer, and so she lets it out, “And you didn’t return my texts, your phone was disconnected, you didn’t come back, and I couldn’t leave! And then I wake up and I’m practically dragged out of my room and brought before the Dean and they’ve registered us! They have segregated us! They’ve treated us as second class citizens! And we’ve tried to fight them peacefully, we’ve tried to do the right thing! But it’s been hard, so hard. They’ve done horrible things, people have died! And they look to me, they expect me to be a leader! But I can’t be a leader! I was never cut out for this! It was you, always you! You were our leader! But you weren’t there! And I had no idea where you were! And then, finally, finally after weeks of no word, after weeks of worrying, and thinking the worst, you appear! And…and you give me this look…this look that I will never forget! This look that you hate me! And you say stay away with such abhorrence! And you’re wearing a uniform! You’re one of them…so I think…I think they’ve done things to you…and then I hear we’ve broken up! From a stranger! And I don’t know what to do! And now you’re here! And you’re acting like nothing has changed and I…I…I don’t….”   
It’s been a long time since Carmilla has cried to the point of sobbing. Looking back, she thinks the last time was with Elle, knowing that Elle would die and that she would be stuck in that coffin of blood potentially forever, that was possibly the last time she’s truly let herself cry like that. Sure she has shed tears here and there, let a few escape her eyes against her will, but nothing like this for the longest time. She wasn’t sure she was capable of it anymore, but the past few weeks have been too much, and even the most hardened and cynical vampire has their breaking point.   
Carmilla collapses to her knees and puts her head in her hands and begins to sob. It’s not loud or wailing, but soft and strangled and it takes a moment before Carmilla even realizes she’s doing it. A part of her loathes herself for being this weak. But mostly she doesn’t care because it feels good to finally let it all out.  
Laura stands there stunned for a split second, her brain not processing what’s she’s seeing, but her heart breaking instantly at the sight that it physically pains her. Then she lunges forward, dropping to her knees as well, and wraps Carmilla up in a tight hug, clutching her so tight that if Carmilla wasn’t as resilient as she was it might be painful.   
And she begins to repeat the mantra, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Over and over again, until it become nothing more than her own choked sobs.  
They stay like that, crying together in harmony for what feels like an eternity before they both have nothing left in them and they slump to the ground, exhausted. They’re wrapped around each other, holding tight, afraid to let the other go, afraid that if they let go the other will disappear. They then lie like that for a while, just embracing one another, just making sure the other person is real, and hoping that nothing has really changed between them, hoping it all can be fixed.  
Eventually they look at one another and slowly begin to sit up, reluctantly separating themselves, but still sitting close enough to be touching. Both their eyes are red and they both look like a mess, but they can’t help but smile at each other when their eyes lock, even if the smile is small and strained.  
After a few more minutes of silence, Carmilla finally speaks, “Well that was something.” She says, her voice hoarse.  
“I’m sorry.” Laura chokes out and feels tears welling up in her eyes again.  
Carmilla can see Laura about to break down again and places a hand on her cheek, wiping away the oncoming tears, “I know.” She tells her, “I know.”  
“I really am sorry.” Laura repeats, “I never meant for…I didn’t mean for…I…”  
Carmilla places a finger to Laura’s lips to silence her, “Shhhh” She says, “Calm yourself Creampuff and then tell me what the hell is going on. Cause I would really, really like to know.”  
Laura nods, takes a deep breath, and then begins to speak, “It all started a week before the first week of classes....”


	36. Heart in the Right Place

“It all started a week before the first week of classes.” Laura begins, “You had left about a day ago and I was hanging out with my father when I get a call from an unknown number. I answer it and Phil is on the other line.”  
“Ugh, that weasel.” Carmilla growls, “I should have known he was in the mix somewhere.”  
“Yeah well, he calls and says he wants to meet up with me. He tells me he has something important to discuss, but it can’t be over the phone.” Laura says, “So we agree to meet later that day. I meet up with him and he tells me that the organization he works for has basically gone crazy. That they have shifted their focus from protecting and understanding supernatural creatures to viewing them as the enemy, something to be feared and destroyed. He tells me about their plan for this campus, to lock it down, and to implement these new rules on supernatural students. He talks about how they’re putting this new Dean in charge, this woman who has a track record of using extreme measures against the supernatural and is known for her hatred and bigotry towards them.”  
“Oh peachy.” Carmilla snaps, “I knew that woman was biased and full of shit about equality and understanding.”  
Laura nods, “Phil didn’t like the direction they were headed in.”  
“Why didn’t he do something about it then?” Carmilla asks, “He works for them or worked for them as I’ve heard it.”   
“He did do something, he protested their changes, he argued against the appointment of the new Dean. Apparently he made quite a fuss.” Laura says, “So they fired him.”  
“Oh.” Carmilla says, suddenly finding herself respecting Phil slightly more, but only slightly.  
“But before they fired him he found out they had something else planned for this campus. Something much worse than what they’re already doing.” Laura says.  
“Yeah, I’ve heard similar things, but no one knows what it is.” Carmilla says, “Do you?”  
Laura shakes her head, “No and neither did Phil. He was fired before he could find out. All he knows is that it was called Phase 2 and it was a top secret project. That’s why he came to me. He wanted me to infiltrate the organization as a mediator and find out what Phase 2 was so that we could figure out way to stop it.”  
Carmilla blinks a few times as she tries to take in what Laura just said, “So that’s what this is all about? You’re playing secret agent?”  
“I’m not playing at it Carm, it’s not a game. I’m trying to figure out what evil plot this new organization has for this campus.” Laura says.  
Carmilla is stunned and then suddenly angry, “Laura! “ She shouts, “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! What if they figured you out? What if you got hurt? There are so many things that could have gone wrong with this plan! So many things already did! I thought you were hurt or being tortured or worse!”   
“I’m sorry Carm!” Laura shouts back, “I really am! I didn’t mean for that to happen! But this was the only way!”  
“The only way? The only way?” Carmilla says, “We could have fought this together, side by side, like we always do. We could have investigated on our own, with your stupid friends tagging along and driving me insane! But instead you had to go off all lone wolf and throw yourself into the lion’s den leaving me to run around like a chicken with her head cut off, worried sick about you, thinking I’ve done something wrong, thinking I’ve somehow gotten myself into the doghouse, and then you come here and let the cat out of the bag and I just…I just…” Carmilla can’t finish she’s so angry.  
“Did you intend to use all those animal words or was that by accident?” Laura asks after a moments silence and gets a glare from Carmilla.  
“Laura! Are you even listening to me?” Carmilla says, “You’re always telling me we’re a team, we work together, but then you go off all on your own without even a thought? What am I supposed to take from that?”  
Laura looks stricken, “But..I…I left you a note! None of this stuff would have happened if you’d just gotten the note! This all would have been fine if you’d gotten it! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I thought I had it covered. I thought it was okay. I didn’t expect them to prevent you from leaving. There’s nothing else I could have done.”  
“You could have asked me.” Carmilla says in a small voice.  
“What?” Laura says.  
“You could have come to me and asked me.” Carmilla says looking into Laura’s eyes now, “But you didn’t even do that.”  
Laura suddenly gets angry, “Oh, I have to ask your permission now? Do I? Is that what this is about? Because I didn’t run it by you first?”  
“NO!” Carmilla shouts, “That is not what this is about! Just stop with your stupid pride for two seconds! This isn’t about me not believing in you or respecting you or trying to control you! Okay? This is about you not having the decency to tell me in person what you were doing. Not even gracing me with a phone call. You left me a note Laura. A note I was supposed to find later. Why couldn’t you have told me to my face what the plan was? Or even just given me a call? Shot me a text? Why is it that you decided a note was the best option? Did Phil shove you out the door with barely a warning? Did you get kidnapped in the middle of the night and dragged off, with just enough time to scribble out what was happening? Or did you sit down one night and write out a long explanation of what your plan was and what you were up to, stick it in an envelope, and hand it to your Dad, and then walk out the door like that was good enough?”  
“I didn’t think that…I just was…I had to…” Laura began, but didn’t finish. She honestly didn’t know what to say.   
“That’s what I thought.” Carmilla says, “Why couldn’t you tell me to my face Laura? Why did you sneak around behind my back and do this? Were you afraid I was going to stop you? Were you afraid I was going to tell you this was stupid and immature and would likely get you killed? Cause you were right about that part. But if that were the case, than that means in the back of your mind you thought I was right. And if you thought I was right, then why did you do this? What was this all about? Was this a pride thing? I know your little miss independent Laura, but this is too much. Was it about pride? To prove that you could do it?”  
“No.” Laura says meekly.  
“Then what was it about?” Carmilla asks, “What the hell was this all about?”  
“I was trying to protect you!” Laura shouts finally back at Carmilla, her fists clenched, her eyes angry.  
“What?” Carmilla says.  
“You always talk about how I throw myself into danger, but look at you. You nearly died twice and you’ve been hurt half a dozen times and all of that is because of me. Because you were trying to save me. Every time that I’m in danger, you get hurt. Every time something attacks, you’re pushing me out of the way. And I appreciate it, I really, really do. But I also worry. I worry that someday, in trying to save me, you’re going to get yourself killed and I don’t think I could live with that. I don’t think I could live with the knowledge that you died protecting me. Because as noble and valiant as that is, it’s still you dying for me and I just don’t…I don’t want that.” Laura says, “I can’t lose you Carmilla. I just can’t. And I especially can’t lose you because of my own actions. So if I’m going to be putting myself into danger, than it’ll be on my own, where only I can get hurt. Not you or anyone else.”  
Carmilla stares at Laura for several moments, now herself unsure of what to say. Finally after a long, almost painful silence Carmilla begins to laugh. Laura looks at her worried, like she might have just snapped.   
“What’s so funny?” Laura asks, staring at Carmilla who is now doubled over, clutching her stomach, “Carmilla, come one. What’s so funny?” Carmilla doesn’t respond, but continues laughing. Laura begins to get annoyed, “Ugh, Carm, come on. Why are you laughing?”  
Carmilla eventually stops after a while, until her eyes are watering, and her stomach begins to hurt, she lets out a few more chuckles, until she calms herself.  
“Now are you going to tell me?” Laura asks.  
“We’re such idiots.” Carmilla says shaking her head and giggling a bit. Laura doesn’t think she’s ever heard Carmilla giggle until just now.  
“Why are we idiots?” Laura asks, intrigued now.  
“Cause we spend so much time trying to protect each other that we’ve lost sight of what really matters.” Carmilla says.  
“And that is?” Laura asks.  
“Loving each other.” Carmilla says with a smile.  
Laura smiles back, kisses Carmilla on the lips, and then gives her a shove, “Who knew you were such a romantic Carm.”  
Carmilla clears her throat, embarrassed and then gets a seductive look on her face, “Well I mean, loving each other can have many meanings. Emotionally, spiritually….physically.” She leans in close and whispers the last one in Laura’s ear, causing Laura to shiver.  
“Oh I’ve missed you so much.” Laura says leaning in close to Carmilla.  
Carmilla kisses Laura passionately and then pulls away, “I’ve missed you more than I can possibly say.”  
“You could always…show me?” Laura offers with a mischievous smirk.  
“Oh how naughty we’ve become.” Carmilla smirks back.  
“They do say absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Laura says.  
“Amongst other things.” Carmilla purrs and then kisses her again, long and slow. They meld with one another in the grass on that cold night under the starry sky.


	37. The Plan

Carmilla lies on her back half naked in the grass with Laura curled up next to her, fully dressed again because of the cold. Even with her clothes and after the activity they’ve participated in, Laura still shivers slightly and Carmilla draws her in closer, trying to give her the little warmth she has.  
“You know that star-crossed lovers means lovers whose relationship is doomed to fail right?” Carmilla asks absently, tracing circles along Laura’s exposed neck, and feeling comfort in her rhythmic breathing.  
“Hmmm? What?” Laura asks, coming out of her blissful daze.  
“You said before that we were like star-crossed lovers.” Carmilla says, “I’d rather hope we’re not seeing as it means lovers who are doomed to fail.”  
“Hmm, I didn’t know that.” Laura says, “I just thought it meant lovers who get themselves into trouble and have to overcome it.”  
“Well that would be us if that were true.” Carmilla says, “Speaking of trouble. I have come up with a solution to your predicament, about putting me in harm’s way when you get yourself into danger.”  
“You have?” Laura asks with a smile.  
“Sure.” Carmilla says, “It’s simple. Just stop getting yourself into trouble.”  
Laura laughs and shakes her head, “I wish I could. But I can’t.”  
“I know, Cupcake.” Carmilla says kissing her on the forehead, “It’s something that exasperates me, but it’s also something I admire about you.”  
There is silence and Laura looks like she’s thinking about saying something. Carmilla looks at her, waiting.  
Finally Laura lets out a sigh and says, “I know I’ve said sorry a bunch of times, like way too much, too, too much, but I feel like I should say it again. Because you’re all quiet and angry at me still, I can tell and you have every right to be. And I feel awful about what happened, so awful. And you were right. I shouldn’t have left a note. I shouldn’t have just left you a note. That was wrong. I should have told you in person what I was planning. Because, because we’ve been dating for nearly a year now and you have every right to know what I’m up to, what I’m planning. I can’t just go off anymore without telling anyone and expect that to be okay. I mean, I know I did it to protect you, but now that I think about it, it was stupid. I was doing the exact thing people do to me and I hate that. So I don’t know why I thought it was okay to do to you. I don’t know why I thought it was okay to leave a note or whatever. But I’m sorry about that. I am so, so sorry. And I know sorry won’t be enough. I know I have to make up for it somehow. I don’t know how yet, but I will. I will Carm, I promise. I will make it up to you. I will show you that I’m sorry and I won’t ever do anything like this again. Next time something like this happens, I will tell you straight away. No note. Just you and me, together like it’s supposed to be, and…and…I think I should say sorry again. So sorry. And…”  
“Creampuff, enough.’ Carmilla says with a smirk, “I get it, I promise. And I know you’ll make it up to me….in many ways.” That last part she whispers seductively into Laura’s ear again and once again Laura shivers, but this time not from the cold.  
“How do you turn everything into an innuendo?” Laura asks with a laugh.  
“Talent.” Carmilla says, “I have many talents, some of which I think you know well.”  
“See, right there. You just made that so incredibly sexy.” Laura says shaking her head and then curling into Carmilla more, “I can’t believe we’ve been apart for so long. I don’t want to go back.”  
“Then don’t.” Carmilla says, holding onto Laura, “Stop the game. Come back with me.”  
“But I’m so close to figuring out what Phase 2 is. So close.” Laura says, “If I leave now, all this will have been for nothing.”  
“I think it has something to do with the library.” Carmilla says and Laura looks over at her.  
“What makes you think that?” Laura asks.  
“Bianca mentioned that…”  
“Who’s Bianca?” Laura asks and Carmilla hears a hint of jealousy in her voice.  
“Why Cutie? Are you jealous?” Carmilla asks, a taunting smile on her lips.  
Laura blushes and shakes her head, “Nooo, just I haven’t…you know heard that name before…so I just wanted to know…who she was.”   
“Uh huh.” Carmilla says.  
“I’m not jealous.” Laura replies.  
“Sure you aren’t.” Carmilla says.  
“I’m not!” Laura says indignantly.  
“Alright Cupcake, you’re not jealous.” Carmilla says like she doesn’t believe it and Laura pouts. Carmilla gives her a kiss on her forehead and Laura smiles up at her. Carmilla continues, “Anyway, Bianca, you may have seen her. She’s the purple haired girl who protests a lot. The one…” Carmilla’s eyes widen and she looks over at Laura quickly, “Laura, she’s the one who was getting beaten up by those mediators.”  
Laura looks over at her and nods, “The one you asked me to save?”  
“Yes, what happened to her? Is she alright?” Carmilla asks and Laura looks at Carmilla funny, “What?”  
“You care.” Laura says suddenly breaking out into a smile.  
“What are you talking about?” Carmilla says shaking her head.  
“You care what happened to this girl and I don’t think it’s for any romantic reasons. You just care about her as an ally or friend or whatever. Oh Carm, I’m so proud of you.” Laura says and hugs her closer.  
“Ugh, gross, Laura.” Carmilla says, “I only care about her because she’s been useful thus far. No other reason besides that.”  
“Sure you do.” Laura says smirking.  
“Cupcake…” Carmilla warns, “Don’t get any romantic notions in your head about me. I don’t care about anyone, except you.” She kisses Laura on the head.  
“I know, I know.” Laura says with a smile, “You’re this distant, apathetic, cynical, badass vampire, who scoffs at the world and everyone in it. I know.”  
“And don’t you forget it, Sweetheart.” Carmilla says, pauses, and then asks, “So…uh…what did happen to Bianca?”  
Laura gives her a knowing smile, but then becomes more serious, “She’s alive. Badly beaten, but alive. She’s in the hospital now and from what I heard she should make a full recovery.”  
“That’s good to hear.” Carmilla says.  
“But the fact that she was beaten so badly is not okay. This organization is corrupt. The new Dean doesn’t want everyone to work together, she hates the supernatural students of this campus with a passion.” Laura says.  
“Yeah, I got that impression.” Carmilla says, “This whole thing is massively fucked up.”  
“And we haven’t even seen the worst of it yet.” Laura says.  
Carmilla nods, “Right, Phase 2. Which is most assuredly not going to be rainbows and unicorns.”  
“And you think it has something to do with the library?” Laura asks.  
“Yeah, Bianca told me she saw a bunch of mediators heading into the library with diving gear or something.” Carmilla says, “And when I was down there before…”  
“When were you down there?” Laura asks nervously, “This semester? Did you go down there this semester?”  
“Yes.” Carmilla says looking at Laura and she can hear Laura’s heart rate increase. She breathes in and out slowly to try and calm herself.  
“Did you…did you go to the lower levels?” Laura asks.   
“Yes.” Carmilla says.  
Laura frowns and continues to breathe slowly to keep herself calm, “Why?”  
“You’re not going to like the answer.” Carmilla says.  
“Just…just tell me.” Laura says.  
“I was looking for you.” Carmilla says and Laura gasps. Laura clutches Carmilla tighter and Carmilla says, “Cupcake, I’m okay. I’m right here. Nothing happened to me.”  
Laura frowns even more, “But something could have Carm! You could have gotten hurt or you could have died. And all because of me! This is the kind of stuff I was trying to stop from happening by going off on my own. But I guess it was foolish of me to think that would happen. I’m an idiot. A big dumb idiot who thought she was doing the right thing, but it turns out was just putting her girlfriend in even more danger.”  
“You’re not a big dumb idiot.” Carmilla says and then grins, “If anything you’d be a tiny little idiot.” Laura glares at her and Carmilla laughs, “And yes, maybe it was foolish of you to think that you could run off and face danger without me chasing after you, but I appreciate the gesture, however misguided it was.”  
“I still feel so stupid.” Laura says shaking her head, “I mean, I still think me being undercover was our best bet. But we could have done this together. I’ve been so scared and alone these past few weeks and it was totally unnecessary.”  
“Life’s a learning experience.” Carmilla says, “We all make mistakes.”  
“Yeah, I suppose.” Laura says, “I’m so…”  
Carmilla places a kiss on Laura’s lips cutting her off. They kiss for several moments until Carmilla pulls away allowing Laura to breathe, “No more saying sorry. I’m done with all the apologizing.”  
“Okay.” Laura says smiling shyly, “No more sorry.” She then thinks and says, “Actually, one more, sorry that I interrupted you. You were telling me about the library.”  
Carmilla chuckles and says, “Ah yes, I was telling you about my daring expedition into the dark depths of the most dangerous place on campus all in search of my, maiden fair.” Laura laughs and Carmilla continues, “The story begins, with our heroine, the dark eyed beauty known by many names, but for the sake of this story, as Carmilla, traveling into the belly of the beast, so to speak, in search of her long lost love. Her surroundings are most treacherous, but mostly uneventful as she knows not to touch anything out of the ordinary.” She gives Laura a pointed look.  
“Hey, I didn’t mean to knock over that bookcase the last time we were there. I got startled.” Laura says, “By a mouse and then…well…bad stuff happened. But it was an accident.”  
“But she knows her luck will eventually run out and so it does as she enters into a large cavern filled with murky water. There is a narrow bridge across the water, leading to a door at the far end. Carmilla deciding not to tempt fate, attempts to leave the room, but finds the way she came through is no longer there. That leaves her only one option, she must go forward.” Carmilla says in her most dramatic voice, “So she begins her foolhardy…” Carmilla continues her story for the next ten minutes describing the battle with the sea creature and her conversation with the dark entity lurking below the school. She finishes by telling Laura that the shadow creature had implied that there was more going on at the school than they originally suspected.  
“So, there’s this creature, this girl Bianca, and Phil all telling us there is something up here.” Laura says, “So…I’m kind of thinking something is up here.”  
“Yeah, I think so.” Carmilla says.  
“Do you think it has to do with this dark entity?” Laura asks.  
Carmilla looks at her and frowns, “Why do you think that?”  
“The diving gear.” Laura says, “You mentioned a bunch of mediators with diving gear. It sounds like they’re trying to get past this water monster and with the bridge destroyed, they’d have to find some other way to get across.”  
“So you think they’re trying to get to this dark spirit or whatever it is. Trying to free it?” Carmilla asks.  
“Who knows.” Laura says with a shrug, “But I wouldn’t put it past them to try. This organization does not have the best record when it comes to meddling in things it doesn’t understand.”   
“True.” Carmilla says.  
“I wonder what they could want with it.” Laura says.  
“I’m more concerned with what it wants.” Carmilla says, “It wants to be freed, that’s for sure. I just wonder who imprisoned it there in the first place.”  
“You said it told you that you know it.” Laura says, “Do you?”  
Carmilla shakes her head, “I think I would remember meeting a scary shadow monster.”  
“Good point.” Laura says and thinks for a moment, “Alright, let’s go over what we know. We know that a secret government organization that monitors, tracks, and sometimes hunts down supernatural creatures is now running this school. We know that they’ve appointed a bigoted new Dean, who hates supernatural creatures for…some reason. We know they’ve implemented all these rules after the events of the past two semesters under the guise of trying to unify the school.”  
“Or some such bullshit.” Carmilla says shaking her head.  
“We know that they have some ulterior motive, possibly involving the library, possibly involving this dark entity.” Laura says, “What do we do now?”  
“I was going to ask you that, Cupcake.” Carmilla says with a smirk, “You’re our fearless leader.”  
“Right, right.” Laura says thinking, “Okay, I know I have to go back in. Keep trying to get close to the Dean and figure out what Phase 2 is. Maybe along the way I can figure out why she hates supernatural students so much or something. You guys continue with your club thing, we still need to protect the students of this campus and the best way to do that is to get them on our side. We need to show them that what this organization is doing is wrong. But we also need to figure out more about this dark entity.”  
“I suppose the rest of us can start doing research on that.” Carmilla says.  
“Good, good.” Laura says still thinking, “So you’ll do that. And hopefully it’ll all come together. Hopefully we can figure this thing out.”  
“We will Cupcake, we will.” Carmilla says kissing Laura on the forehead again.  
“Now that we’re on the same page, now that we’re a team again, we can do this.” Laura says.  
“You said it.” Carmilla replies with a smile.  
They lie there in the grass for another hour, knowing they had to leave each other again, but desperately wishing they didn’t. Eventually Laura looks at her watch and realizes how early in the morning it is. She sighs and looks over at Carmilla who is just staring at her.  
“I have to go.” Laura says.  
“Don’t leave yet.” Carmilla says, “Stay a little longer.”  
“I can’t.” Laura says, “We have another meeting in four hours and I have to be there at least semiconscious.”  
Carmilla sighs, “You’re going to be the death of me, you know that?”  
Laura pecks her on the lips, “I know.”  
“So what’s the cover story anyway?” Carmilla asks, “How did you convince them that we weren’t…you know…in love.”  
Laura frowns and looks guilty, “I…well…I kind of told them you had…sort of put me under a spell.”  
“What!?” Carmilla shouts, suddenly remembering what the Dean had asked her so many weeks ago during registration. She had thought it was her ‘study buddies’ spreading rumors about her, but she was now shocked to find that it was Laura who had started that story.  
“I’m sorry.” Laura says and gets a look from Carmilla, “And I’m sorry for saying sorry again. Sorry. Sorry. I can’t seem to stop. I’m sorry. Crap. It’s like a disease. Sorry.”  
Carmilla puts her hand over Laura’s mouth, “Creampuff, take a deep breath and then let it out.” Laura does this, “Do it again, two more times.” Laura takes two more breaths, “Okay, now stop staying sorry and finish what you were telling me.”  
Laura nods, “Okay, well I just sort of said you had some kind of vampire mesmer spell on me and I managed to break it or it wore off and that I was super angry at you and hated you for doing that for me for nearly a year and so I wanted to join the mediators to prevent anyone from having to go through what I did. It was super hard to do because I had to say so many bad things about you, but I’d like to think I was very convincing if I do say so myself.”  
“I’m so glad.” Carmilla says dryly.  
“Oh come on.” Laura says, “You have to admit, it’s pretty clever. Although, maybe not so much since now all the mediators hate you with a passion.”  
“Oh and why’s that?” Carmilla says.  
“Because I’m sort of friends with a lot of them.” Laura says with a shrug, “What can I say, I’m likable.” She smiles and looks embarrassed.  
Carmilla rolls her eyes, “I swear, if you weren’t so cute sometimes I’d probably wring your neck or something.”  
Laura kisses Carmilla and then pulls away, “I love you too, Carm.”  
After another fifteen minutes of lying in the grass, huddled close to one another, Laura did eventually get up, albeit reluctantly.  
“We should set up a time to meet again.” Laura says looking out towards the woods and back towards Carmilla.   
Carmilla nods and smirks, “So we can have a rendezvous?”  
Laura laughs, “So we can talk about what’s going on.” Carmilla looks disappointed, but then Laura adds, “And to have a rendezvous.”   
Carmilla smiles and then asks, “When do you think we should meet?”  
“Same time, next week?” Laura asks and Carmilla dislikes the idea of waiting a week to see her girlfriend, especially after figuring out she was okay.  
“How about…tomorrow?” Carmilla offers with a smile.  
Laura chuckles and shakes her head, “I don’t think that’ll work. I can’t sneak away every night. It’ll look suspicious. But I wish…”  
“I know.” Carmilla says and rubs a hand up Laura’s arm, “I know. Next week it is then.” Laura nods and then looks behind her at the woods again. She then lets out a large sigh and Carmilla looks at her concerned, but doesn’t say anything. Laura eventually speaks.  
“I hate this.” Laura says as she stands up and brushes herself off, “Why did I do this again?”  
“To save everyone on this campus and protect your gorgeous girlfriend.” Carmilla says, “But other than that I have no idea.”  
“Right.” Laura says and sighs, “Back to pretending to hate you.” She looks forlorn as she says this.  
Carmilla grabs her hand from where she’s sitting on the ground, “Come here you tiny little idiot and give me a kiss.” She pulls Laura towards her and Laura bends down to kiss her. Carmilla wraps her arms around her and pulls her back down on top of her.  
Laura laughs as she falls and they tumble through the grass for a second before coming to a stop.   
“Carm…” Laura laughs, “I have to go.”  
“One last kiss.” Carmilla says.  
“You said that two minutes ago.” Laura says.  
“And I’m sure I meant it then.” Carmilla replies and then kisses her girlfriend. Their lips lock, but it isn’t a gentle kiss. It is fierce and fiery and filled with desperation, like they know this will be their last kiss for a while, for far too long. It’s the kind of kiss that makes the world stop and fade away into the distance. The kind of kiss that sparks an energy between them and makes them closer, makes their connection deeper.  
Finally, Laura pulls away and looks into Carmilla’s eyes, she’s about to say something when Carmilla speaks first, “I know, you have to leave.”  
“I’m…”  
“Nope.” Carmilla says and gives her a light peck this time, “Come on, let’s get you out of here.” She stands up and then helps Laura to her feet.   
“We’ll have to leave separately. I don’t want anyone to see us together right now.” Laura says and Carmilla tries not to look hurt by her words.  
“Yeah, I figured as much.” Carmilla says, “You can leave first and then I’ll follow fifteen minutes behind.”  
“Sounds good.” Laura says, but doesn’t move.  
“Cupcake….” Carmilla says.  
“I know I said I have to go.” Laura says and sighs, “Okay, here I go.” She still doesn’t move.  
“Laura…”  
“Okay, okay, I’m going.” Laura begins to walk away, but looks back at her girlfriend after taking only five steps. She then runs back to her, “Aw crapsticks, one for the road.” She then kisses her passionately once more and pulls away, “Okay, now I’m really going.” She walks away several more steps this time and looks back. Carmilla smiles and gives her a shooing gesture. Before she makes it to the tree line, she stops and looks back, “Wait!”  
“Laura, come on.” Carmilla says, “You’re killing me here.”  
“No, wait, I forgot to give you something.” Laura says and rushes back. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper which she hands to Carmilla.  
“What is this?” Carmilla asks.  
“Blueprints for those bracelets that the level sixes have to wear.” Laura says, “I figure Laf is trying to figure out how to turn that sucker off without sounding the alarm. I’m hoping this will help them do that.”  
Carmilla can’t help, but smile at her girlfriend and shakes her head, “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”  
“I think you’ve told me once or twice.” Laura says.  
“Alright, now get out of here before I change my mind and make it so you can never leave.” Carmilla says.  
Laura laughs and jogs away, she looks back once more when she makes it to the tree line, blows Carmilla a kiss, and then disappears into the woods. Carmilla listens to her as she treks through the woods, having nearly as much trouble leaving as she did entering. Eventually though, the sound of Laura fades and then disappears altogether and Carmilla is left out in the clearing all alone, feeling as though she’s just woken up from a dream.


	38. A little good with the bad

Carmilla makes her way back to her dorm without incident. She lies down in her bed and suddenly feels a wave of exhaustion wash over her. It’s been a hell of day or a few days and Carmilla feels she deserves some rest. She gets about four hours of sleep before someone knocks on her door. She groans and turns over, ignoring whoever it is. The person knocks again, louder this time, and then she hears LaFontaine’s voice on the other side, “Carmilla! Open up!”  
Carmilla groans again, but this time rolls out of bed, trudges over to the door, and glares at LaFontaine on the other side. But it’s not just LaFontaine. Perry is there too as well as a tall, thin asian guy that Carmilla recognizes, but can’t remember what from.  
“What do you want?” Carmilla growls out, annoyed at just being awake.  
“We need to talk.” LaFontaine says.  
“You breaking up with me?” Carmilla asks and gets a funny look from LaFontaine, “Either that or you’re pregnant. Cause those are the only times people say, we need to talk.”  
LaFontaine scowls now, “Did the whole pregnancy thing last semester. Not really a fan. Going to skip it on a whole.”  
“To be fair, you were pregnant with a demonic bug spawn, so I don’t know if I would judge all pregnancy based on that standard.” Perry says and LaFontaine shoots her a look, “But yes of course, not the point.”  
“Just, can we come in?” LaFontaine asks, “We need to talk about something.”  
“Who’s he?” Carmilla asks.  
“We’ll get to that once you let us in.” LaFontaine says.  
“I was sleeping.” Carmilla replies.  
“You’re always sleeping.” LaFontaine says, “That or being a pain in my ass.”  
“Oooh, testy today aren’t we.” Carmilla says, “Fine, come in.” She moves aside to let them in.  
“They’re sorry, they don’t really mean it.” Perry says as she moves past Carmilla into the room.  
“Yes I do!” LaFontaine shouts behind them as they walk into the room. Perry gives Carmilla another apologetic look and Carmilla just sighs, shakes her head, and closes the door.  
“So what is this all about?” Carmilla asks and watches as Perry begins to clean the room frantically, marveling at the amount of energy she always seemed to have.  
“This is Aki.” LaFontaine says gesturing to Aki who waves at Carmilla. Carmilla doesn’t wave back.  
“Uh huh.” Carmilla says.  
“You might remember him from the student association.” LaFontaine says, “He was one of the human students who voted in favor of us.”  
“Right, that guy.” Carmilla says, “Thanks.” Aki looks nervous and nods.  
“Why is he here?” Carmilla asks turning to LaFontaine.  
“Victor is missing.” LaFontaine says and Carmilla looks like she’s trying to remember who Victor is, “The former head of the student association.”  
“Oh yeah, him.” Carmilla says, “So?”  
“So he’s missing.” LaFontaine says annoyed now.  
“What does that have to do with this guy here or me and how do you know he’s missing?” Carmilla asks.  
“Tell her what you told me.” LaFontaine says gesturing to Aki who just stands there awkwardly.   
“Well?” Carmilla says after a long silence. Eventually Aki leans down and whispers something into Lafontaine’s ear.  
After a moment LaFontaine sighs, “I know she’s scary, but she’s not going to hurt you.” Carmilla can’t help, but laugh when she hears that.   
Aki looks back up at Carmilla, his eyes still wide in fear, but he lets out a sigh, and speaks with a slight accent, “So Victor and I are dating. And a week and a half ago or something like that I stop hearing from him. So after a few days I go to his roommate and he tells me Victor has gone away. I think that’s strange, but I think maybe he’s gone on vacation or to see his family. So I try and get in contact with him, but I can’t. His phone has been disconnected and no one seems to know where he went. I go back to his roommate and ask him how he knows Victor has gone away and his roommate hands me this.” He pulls out a card and hands it to Carmilla. She recognizes it instantly. It’s similar to the cards that her mother used to give out when they kidnapped students, though it isn’t multiple choice. It just states that Victor has decided to take a leave of absence for a while due to stress and it is marked officially by the administration. Carmilla reads it through and then hands it back to Aki.   
“I’ve seen these before.” Carmilla says.  
“So have we.” LaFontaine says.  
“Victor wouldn’t just leave without telling me. And he wouldn’t go on a leave of absence due to stress. He wasn’t a guy that got stressed very often. It is just so strange. And I did not know who to go to since the administration seems to be behind this. And I’ve heard rumor you investigate these kinds of things.” Aki says, “Can you help me find my Victor?”  
Carmilla shakes her head and says, “I’m sorry, but no.” While Perry and LaFontaine speak at the same time as her.  
“Yeah.” LaFontaine says.  
“Of course honey.” Perry says over her shoulder as she continues to clean.  
They all then abruptly look at one another. Carmilla glaring at the other two.  
“What do you mean, no?” LaFontaine asks, “We have to…”  
Carmilla cuts them off with a hand gesture and turns to Aki, “Would you excuse us for a second?”  
Aki looks startled at being addressed, but then nods, “Sure, yeah, sure.” He stands there waiting for them to leave, but gets a glare from Carmilla.  
“The door is over there.” Carmilla says gesturing to the door and Aki leaps to his feet.  
“Sorry, sorry, I thought…sorry.” He then rushes to the door and leaves the room.  
“We have to help him.” Perry says in a hushed tone, knowing Aki is right outside the door.  
“We have too much on our plate right now to go searching for one person.” Carmilla says in not so hushed tones, not caring that Aki is right outside the door.   
“But Victor is my friend.” LaFontaine says, “And it’s obvious that the organization has something to do with his disappearance. We can’t just let them take people.”  
Carmilla scowls, “And we’re doing that by stopping them, not by hunting down one person.”  
“We don’t know for sure that it’s just one person.” LaFontaine says, “It could be more. We just know of one.”  
“Doesn’t matter.” Carmilla says, “We don’t have time for this.”  
“When have we ever had time for any of this?” LaFontaine asks.  
“We have to run this stupid club and make sure the campus is safe. We have to have that stupid mixer on Friday. We have to investigate the Dean. We have to try and figure out why our social media is so screwed up. We have to find the bylaws. We have to go back down to the library and figure out what phase 2 is. And now…” Carmilla begins, but LaFontaine cuts her off.  
“Hold up, what did you say?” LaFontaine asks.  
Carmilla pauses and realizes she hasn’t told any of them about the events of last night, about her conversation with Laura, “Oh right, we need to talk.”  
“Are you breaking up with me now?” LaFontaine asks with a smirk.  
Carmilla growls and says, “Let’s put a pin in the whole searching for lost students conversation. I have more pressing things to discuss with you and I don’t want nervous stutter out there overhearing us.”  
Perry frowns, “We still have to help him. This discussion isn’t over.”  
Carmilla frowns, “Fine. But I still say we’re doing too much.”  
“Noted.” LaFontaine says and walks over to the door, “I’ll get rid of him and then you start talking about what this Phase 2 is.” They go over to the door and have a quick chat with Aki. Carmilla can hear many apologies and assurances being said, many of which Carmilla disagreed with, but she kept her mouth shut. Eventually LaFontaine shut the door and turned back to the room.   
“Alright, talk.” LaFontaine says.  
“We should get the others, shouldn’t we?” Perry asks, “They’ll want to know this right?”  
Carmilla thinks about it and nods, “Yeah, probably.” They invite the others and about forty minutes later the rest of the group is in the room.  
Danny is sitting on Laura’s bed, glaring at Carmilla, still angry at her for their fight. Gwen is on the floor by Danny’s legs, strumming away on her guitar in a nervous fashion. Kirsch is up against the wardrobe. LaFontaine and Perry are on Carmilla’s bed and Carmilla is draped over the chair by the remains of the desk.  
“So, what are we all here for?” Gwen asks from on the floor.  
“Carmilla has something important to tell us.” LaFontaine says and Danny scoffs.   
“Oh, you have something to say Clifford?” Carmilla asks, turning hard eyes towards Danny.  
“No, nothing. Just say your piece.” Danny says.  
“No, really, before I start, it looks like you want to say something.” Carmilla says, “Let’s hear it.”  
Danny thinks for a moment and then shakes her head, “This isn’t the time. We have a lot to talk about. But this isn’t the time.”  
“Fine.” Carmilla says and turns back to the group, “I met with Laura last night.”  
The whole group collectively gasps and then all begins to speak at once.  
“What?” Kirsch says, “What? The little nerd hottie…er I mean Laura?”  
“What do you mean you met with Laura last night?” Gwen asks.  
“Where did you see her?” Danny asks, “Did you talk?”  
“Was it spontaneous or did you meet with her?” LaFontaine asks, “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”  
“Are you two going to be alright?” Perry asks.  
Carmilla waves her hands, “Shut up. Everyone, shut up and let me talk.” They all stop talking, “I assume you heard about the riot yesterday.”  
“Yeah, the supernatural students are getting the blame for that one as well.” LaFontaine says, “A protestor firebombed the administration building.”  
“I don’t think it was a protestor.” Carmilla says, “I think it was a setup. An excuse to attack the protestors.”  
“How do you know that?” Danny asks.  
“Cause I was there.” Carmilla says and they all watch her intently, “The protest was going peacefully as usual when I spotted a dark hooded figure in the crowd. They rushes towards the front, threw something, and then it exploded. Then a bunch of mediators came out of nowhere and rushed the crowd as if they had been lying in wait.”  
“So you think, that like, the firebomb guy was a mediator or worked for the Dean or something?” Kirsch asks.  
Carmilla shrugs, “I wouldn’t put it past them.”  
“Okay, so assuming it was the administration, then they’re what, trying to stop the protests right?” Gwen asks.  
“Yeah.” LaFontaine says, “This is the same kind of thing they pulled with the alchemy club. They’re getting rid of anything that poses a threat to them.”  
“Which brings me to the fact that they tried to kill me during the chaos.” Carmilla says and everyone looks back at her stunned.  
“What do you mean they tried to kill you?” Perry asks nervously, “How did they try and kill you?”  
“I was caught in the ensuing battle. I was trying to get out when I noticed them beating on Bianca, purple haired protest leader.” Carmilla says and they all nod, “I go to try and stop them when I notice a glint on the rooftop. I look up to see someone aiming a rifle at me. Before I can do anything though a feel something collide into me and I’m knocked to the ground.”  
“Did you get shot?” Perry asks suddenly getting to her feet, “You don’t look hurt…do you need assistance?”  
“No, I’m fine. I didn’t get shot.” Carmilla says and Perry sits back down, “Laura tackled me just as the gun fired. She saved my life.”  
“She saved your life.” Danny says, “But the rifle wouldn’t kill you, would it?”  
“It would if the bullet had a wood core and was aimed directly at my heart.” Carmilla says and they all look a bit more concerned, “She saved my life and then tasered me.”  
“What? Why?” Gwen asks.  
“I mean, we had a brief conversation first and she told me she was going to do it. I assume it was to keep her cover and get me out of the line of fire.” Carmilla says.  
“Her cover?” LaFontaine asks, “What is she a spy now?” They laugh and then stop laughing as they realize what they just said, “Holy shit! She’s a spy now! That’s why she’s a mediator! She’s infiltrating their ranks!”  
“Yes and shhh.” Carmilla says, “Keep it down. We don’t want to blow her cover.”  
“Hold on. You’re telling me Laura, our sweet little, can’t tell a lie without giggling nervously, Laura is now undercover in the mediators?” Danny asks.  
“Essentially.” Carmilla says.  
“And you let her!” Danny shouts.  
“I didn’t let her do anything.” Carmilla snaps back, “She’s her own person. Besides, I just found out about it yesterday if you recall.”  
“This is stupid. This is so stupidly dangerous.” Danny says, “I can’t believe she did this! Without telling us! Without even telling you!”  
Carmilla can feel the anger she felt before burning up inside of her again, but she pushes it down, “What’s done is done.”  
“How are you so calm about this?” Danny asks, “We should be getting her out of there, not sitting here and letting her put herself in danger.” Danny stands up as if to do just that.  
“Danny, don’t.” Carmilla commands and Danny freezes at the use of her name, “While I don’t like the idea of my girlfriend putting herself in danger like she is right now, we both have to accept that she is a capable woman who is able to take care of herself and has thus far succeeded in fooling everyone around her, including us, into believing she was a real mediator. She has put weeks of work in to this and claims she is getting close to whatever nefarious plot the Dean of this school is cooking up. If we blow her cover now, we’ll have wasted all of that, and possibly our best shot at figuring out what is going on.”  
“But…” Danny begins.  
“I understand the want to run in there and pull her out. I do. Believe me, I really, really do.” Carmilla says with a sigh, “But we can’t. We have to trust she can handle herself and do our part.”  
Danny sighs and sits back down, “I hate it when you’re right. It makes my skin crawl.”  
LaFontaine asks, “You were talking about this Phase 2 before, what is that?”  
Carmilla then proceeds to go over the events of last night, skipping over the more intimate details. The others listen intently, asking a few questions here and there. When Carmilla finishes they just sit there silently for a few minutes. Then Carmilla recalls something important, reaches into her pocket, pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to LaFontaine.  
“Here. This is for you.” Carmilla says.  
LaFontaine takes it, looking at it puzzled as they open it up, “What is it?”  
“A gift from Laura.” Carmilla says with a smile.  
LaFontaine opens it up all the way and lays it out on the floor. Their eyes go wide and they look back up at Carmilla, “Is this what I think it is?”  
“What is it?” Kirsch asks.  
Carmilla nods, “It is.”  
LaFontaine looks absolutely gleeful, the happiest they’ve looked in a long while.   
“I can’t believe it.” LaFontaine says and begins studying the diagrams.  
“Dear, what is it?” Perry asks, bending down to look at the paper.  
LaFontaine doesn’t answer right away and just stares down at the paper. Perry looks up at Carmilla now, searching for answers, “What is it? Why are they so happy?”  
LaFontaine beams up at Perry and says, “Cause Perr, I think I just figured out how to turn your bracelet off.”


	39. It always gets better before it gets worse

The next day everyone gets called to a town hall meeting again. This time the Dean separates them into three groups, mediators, humans, and supernatural students. Carmilla does spot Laura in the mediator crowd, but doesn’t say anything to her. She pretends like she doesn’t even see her or doesn’t even care. It isn’t a fun experience, but she doesn’t expect this entire experience to be fun.  
The Dean then stands up before the assembled audience and begins to go on about responsibility and proper behavior and trusting one another, which Carmilla knows is all crap. She then expels Bianca who isn’t even there because she’s still in the hospital. The crowd grows restless at that and several students, including Danny and Carmilla begin to argue with the Dean, but she silences them and tells them to sit back down or join Bianca.  
The Dean then goes on to explain the new and stricter rules of campus, the tighter security, the earlier curfew, and much more. She talks about how if this behavior continues; she’ll have to implement a segregation in housing next semester for supernatural and human students. She also explains that all official protests must go through an approval process and she goes on and on about a long and arduous process in which a protest can become officially sanctioned. Any protests not officially sanctioned is considered a threat to the student body as well as the staff of the campus and is considered dangerous activity, which therefore can be shut down by any mediators in the vicinity.   
She then goes into another rant about the differences between humans and the supernatural students and how this is for self-defense and for the betterment of this campus and the world as a whole. Carmilla feels the need to gag repeatedly, but she finds that once the Dean finishes there is much less enthusiasm on both sides of the divide, both human and supernatural, for the conflict and antagonism. The only people who seem riled up by her speech are the mediators. Everyone else just seems uncomfortable.   
The next few weeks start off well, but take a turn for the worse. Carmilla and the rest of the group hold their educational mixer and a few more parties and other gatherings which for the most part go well. After the first mixer, they go from fifteen members, to twenty. After the second, from twenty to thirty-two, and after the third they’re up to nearly fifty with nearly one third of the population being human. This allows them more freedom to monitor and patrol and they find that over the next few weeks, arguments, fighting, and beatings go down significantly. The mood on the campus has shifted once again, with most students moving from disapproval towards the supernatural, to a neutral attitude, with many changing to outright opposing the rules of the new administration.   
The only two things truly troubling that come up that week was the fact that LaFontaine still couldn’t figure out how they seemed to be keeping social media contained and that there were rumors around campus of several more students going missing, all supernatural. When following up on those rumors they group found that there were at least twenty students missing, all leaving the same or similar cards to Victor’s.   
But besides that, things seem to be looking up. Carmilla meets with Laura at least once a week to go over what has happened. Laura feeds her intel about Phase 2 and about anything the mediators might be up to. Carmilla shares what she’s learned on her end and also shares her lips and other parts of her. It’s not an ideal arrangement as she only gets to see her girlfriend once a week, which is far, far too little for Carmilla’s liking, but despite that, it seems to be working as things on campus improve and they continue to move towards figuring out Phase 2.  
“It definitely has to do with the library.” Laura says, “Many of my fellow mediators have been assigned LB duty, which I have learned means, library basement duty. Whatever that means. I’ve been trying to get on those teams, but I think they still don’t quite trust me enough for that. Those are typically for their more fanatical members.”  
Carmilla nods thinking to herself. Laura watches her for a moment thinking and then asks, “What’s on your mind?”  
Carmilla is lost in thought, but is drawn out by Laura’s voice, “Hmm?”  
“You’re thinking about something.” Laura says, “What is it?”  
Carmilla smiles and brings Laura in for a passionate kiss. They stay like that for several minutes until Laura pulls away.  
“I was thinking about doing that.” Carmilla says.  
Laura smiles back, slightly flustered and out of breath, “Well now…that was…wooo!”  
“Woo?” Carmilla laughs, “Couldn’t be a bit more articulate than that, cupcake?”  
Laura shakes her head, “Nope, not after you kiss me like that Carm.” She kisses Carmilla again, but lightly and pulls away too fast for Carmilla to really enjoy it as Laura grows serious again, “What were you thinking about really?”  
“Not fooling you with the kiss thing, huh?” Carmilla asks and Laura shakes her head, “Didn’t think so. You’re too smart for me. It’s what I like about you.” She leans in for another kiss, but this time Laura actually pushes her away. It’s a gentle push, but Carmilla can hear Laura make an annoyed sound.  
“Carm…” Laura says, “You’re being all avoidy. What is it?”  
Carmilla sighs and shakes her head, “You know me too well. Alright well, now that we’ve confirmed that it’s the library that means I’m going to have to go back in and I really didn’t want to go back in.”  
Laura looks at her concerned, “I don’t think going back in is necessary. I think that you can definitely not go back into the library and put yourself in danger or anything like that. I think that you’re perfectly fine being…you know, away from the library and stuff.”  
Carmilla smiles and brushes some hair out of Laura’s face, “You know I have to go back.”  
Laura frowns and then feels her lip quiver. She doesn’t want Carmilla to have to do this, “I don’t want you to go back.”  
“I know.” Carmilla says and kisses her on the forehead, “But I have to. If we’re going to figure this thing out, I have to go back. But this time, I won’t go alone, I promise.”  
Laura nods and then says, “I swear, if you get yourself killed I’m…I’m going to be really pissed is what’s going to happen, you hear me?”  
“I hear you creampuff.” Carmilla laughs, “I hear you.” She shakes her head and then grows serious, “I wanted to ask you something.”  
“Okay, shoot.” Laura says.  
“Several students have gone missing.” Carmilla says, “We think it has to do with the administration. Any knowledge about that?”  
Laura looks somewhat stunned, thinks for a moment, and then shakes her head, “No, I haven’t heard anything, though it’s not really surprising to me that they might do something like this.”  
“Okay.” Carmilla says and then quirks at eyebrow at Laura, “So now that business is settled, shall get onto to something more…fun?” She then tackles Laura to the ground before she can respond. Laura lets out a shriek of surprise and then begins to giggle. It’s a fun, albeit too short night for them both.  
The week following is also relatively calm as Carmilla and the others plan for their trek back into the library to face off against the leviathan and the dark entity. So far this week there have been no fights or beatings and only one argument started by Gideon and ended rather quickly but a chorus of shouting in the food court. Carmilla finally is getting her hopes up when two things happen on Monday morning.   
The first bit of bad news she gets is early in the morning, before she’s awake. She receives a note from the administration with her rescheduled hearing for the following day, Tuesday morning at eight. The second, she receives not much later as she hears aggressive banging on her door and opens it rather reluctantly to reveal LaFontaine and Perry on the other side.  
“What?” Carmilla snaps.  
“We have a problem.” LaFontaine says.


	40. We are like you

Carmilla is standing out in the quad staring in silence. She’s surrounded by a large crowd of people who are much less quiet. They’re all standing around muttering to one another about the sight before them. Carmilla herself hasn’t said a word since she arrived. Just stood there and stared. Stared at the body of a young girl, badly beaten and tied to the flag pole in the center of the quad, and very obviously, very dead. Burned into the grass in front of her body are the words, “DEATH TO ALL FIENDS.”   
Carmilla finally lets out a long, low sigh and asks, “Do we know who she is?”  
LaFontaine shakes their head, “Nope. Not yet. But if I had to put money on it, I’d say she was supernatural.”  
Perry looks distraught, “That poor dear, that poor, poor girl. Who would do such a thing?”  
Carmilla doesn’t frown or scowl or make any indication on her face of what she’s feeling as she speaks, but her eyes and voice say it all, “I know who did it. I know exactly who did it.”  
“You do?” Perry asks, “Who?”  
She doesn’t answer Perry’s question as her eyes move away from the body and begin to search the crowd. There are a mixture of both human and supernatural students as well as several mediators. She doesn’t see Laura though. Who she does see, is a tall, lanky, greasy haired boy in a gray uniform chatting with some fellow mediators. He’s the only one in the crowd with a smile on his face and after a few seconds of watching him she actually sees him point up at the body and laugh.   
Carmilla doesn’t remember beginning to move, but she’s halfway through the crowd before she even realizes what’s happening. She’s seconds away from ripping his throat out, but before she can something surprising happens. Gideon laughs again and then suddenly there is a fist being thrown at him from one of his fellow mediators. He gets decked in the face hard and drops to the ground like a rock, clutching his nose and screaming in pain.   
“You son of a bitch!” The person shouts and it takes Carmilla a moment to recognize Steiner, her former escort, “You fucking son of a bitch!” Steiner leaps forward onto the fallen Gideon and drags him to his feet. He pulls back a fist to strike him again, but is stopped by several of the other mediators. There is a lot of shouting and cursing now.  
“You broke my nose! You broke my nose!” Gideon shouts over and over again as he holds his now bleeding and broken nose.   
“You killed that girl didn’t you!?” Steiner shouts still trying to get at Gideon, but finds several people holding him back, “You fucking son of a bitch! I’m going to kill you asshole!”   
“I didn’t kill nobody!” Gideon shouts back and gets handed a tissue by another mediator and promptly pressed it to his dripping nose, “I didn’t kill nobody!”  
“You’re a disgrace!” Steiner shouts and several people start to drag him away, “You’re a disgrace to this organization!” Others are trying to quiet him now as Gideon fumes with his allies.   
Carmilla overhears Gideon talking as she approaches again.   
“What a nutjob.” Gideon says as he holds the tissue to his nose. He pulls the tissue away and shows the others, “Do you think I need to get this looked at?”  
The others look and nod and one says, “Yeah, it’s broken for sure. You’re probably going to need to get it set.”  
“Shit!” Gideon shouts and shakes his head, “What a nut job.” He repeats, “And to think, he’s defending those demons.”  
Carmilla approaches the group and taps Gideon on the shoulder. He whirls around and she snarls out, “What did I tell you about calling us demons?”  
She then grabs him by the ear and disappears in a puff of smoke. They appear in Carmilla’s dorm room in an equally large puff of smoke. Gideon immediately bends over and throws up all over the floor as Carmilla rolls her eyes.  
“Oh come on, it’s not that bad.” Carmilla snaps, “Weakling.”  
Once Gideon is done throwing up he begins to get his bearings and looks around startled to find himself no longer on the quad.  
“What the hell just happened?” Gideon asks frantically, “Where are we? What did you do?”  
“I teleported us here dickhead.” Carmilla says, “Now sit.” She pushes him over and into the only chair, “We’re going to have a talk.”  
“Oh god!” He shouts, “You’re going to kill me aren’t you! Help! Help!” He reaches for something on his belt, but she smacks his hand away and before he can go again, she rips the belt off him and throws it on the floor.  
“I’m not going to kill you absolute bellend.” Carmilla snaps, “At least, I don’t think I will, but we’ll see how this conversation goes.”  
“Fa…fa…fine…wha…what do you want to know?” He stutters out nervously.  
“Let’s start with something easy.” Carmilla says, “Did you kill that girl?”  
“What? No! I didn’t kill her.” Gideon says.  
Carmilla places her hands on the arms of the chair and leans in close to Gideon’s face, her smile is sinister as she shows her fangs.  
“Let’s try this again.” Carmilla growls, “Did you kill her?”   
“No!” Gideon shouts back and closes his eyes as if expecting Carmilla to attack him. When she doesn’t he opens his eyes and finds her glaring at him, arms crossed.   
“Hmm.” Carmilla says, “I am surprised.” She circles him predatorily and he begins to quiver, “That I did not expect.”  
“You asked your questions fi…I mean…erm…Carmilla.” Gideon says, correcting himself before he can get the word fiend out, “La…let me go.”  
“You know my name?” Carmilla asks, but doesn’t wait for an answer, “Interesting. And no, I will not let you go. We’re not done here.”  
“Wha…what is it you want to know?” Gideon asks.  
“Hmm, you seemed so…confidant at that party and out on the quad.” Carmilla says with a disapproving scowl, “But now you are quite…pathetic. Aren’t you? No friends or allies by your side. No crowd of people. No weapons. No witnesses. Yes, you are a quite pathetic and it’s disappointing really. So very, disappointing.” She snarls at him as she circles behind him and he yelps. She can’t help, but feel rather pleased by his response.  
“Wa…was there a question?” He asks, trying to sound brave, but failing.  
“Hmm?” Carmilla says as if not paying attention to him, “Oh, yes. What do you know about Phase 2?”  
She looks into his eyes when she asks this, searching for something. He looks at her confused for a second, “Um…what now?”  
“Phase 2.” She snarls, “What is it?”  
He looks even more confused, “I…I don’t know what that is.”  
She leans in close again, once again showing her fangs. He can hear a rumbling coming from deep in her throat and gulps. She speaks slowly and carefully, a dark edge to her voice, “You don’t know? Why don’t I believe you?”  
“I…I swear…I have no idea what…what phase 2 is.” He replies, “I swear.”  
Carmilla stares at his face, into his eyes, watching him, looking for any sign that he’s lying. But either he’s a very good liar or he’s telling the truth, because it really seems like he has no idea what she’s talking about. She lets out a sigh and pulls back.  
“And the library, what do you know about what’s going on down there?” Carmilla asks.  
Gideon shrugs, “I know there is a creature down there that interests the Dean. I know there are other monsters down there, ones that are dark and demonic that creep into your mind and…” He shudders and shakes his head.  
“What do you know about the missing students?” Carmilla asks.  
“Missing…students?” He says once again unsure, “What missing students?”  
“The students that your precious administration has kidnapped or worse. The students who disappear and leave nothing, but a card behind explaining how they’re too stressed or have family matters to attend to. Those students!” Carmilla shouts.  
He looks scared again and then frowns, “I…I haven’t taken anyone. I swear. But I did leave some of those cards.”  
“And where did you get the cards?” Carmilla asks.  
“From…from the Dean.” He replies.  
Carmilla nods, “That’s what I thought.” She begins pacing the room for a moment, thinking to herself. There’s several minutes of silence and then Gideon clears his throat. Carmilla looks up, remembering that he was there.  
“What are you still here for?” She snaps, “Get out.”  
He leaps to his feet and makes his way towards the door. He then stops at the door and says over his shoulder, “You’re a monster. A demon and you shall burn in the pits of hell. I’m glad Laura tossed you to the curb. I’m glad she broke up with you. You deserve to be alone.”  
Once again Carmilla didn’t remember moving, but found herself slamming Gideon up against the door with enough force to knock the wind out of him and holding him several inches off the ground.  
“What did you just say to me?” She snarls.  
He cringes, but then shakes his head and glares down at her, “You’re a monster.”  
She pulls back a fist, ready to punch it through his face, but then stops. She lowers him to the ground slowly and let’s go of him.  
“I want to make something abundantly clear to you, you festering sore of a person. I am not a demon, a fiend, or a monster. I am not soulless or evil or sent here by the devil to do his bidding. I am a person. A person who once was human, like you, and was turned into a vampire. But just because I am a vampire now, doesn’t make me any less than you. Doesn’t make me any less of a person than you. I am not some force of evil, but neither am I some force of good. I am as human as you are, with hopes and wishes and desires. With both talents and flaws. With a past that I regret and a future that I hope will be better. I am not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But I am also not purely malign. And it is not just I, but all the other supernatural students who are the same. They are here, like you, to learn and to work. They are your peers, you idiot. They are young and foolish and bold and brilliant and just as terrified as you are. They are going through the same things you are. Midterms and friendships, projects and love, applications and heartache. Even religion and faith. All these things that you think belong to you as a human, think that only you feel and only you experience and that we couldn’t possibly understand, we go through too, we feel too, we live too.” She then taps him on the forehead and says, “So think about that the next time you decide to laugh at the dead body of girl who has parents and siblings who will never spend time with her again. Who has friends who will never talk to her. Who has a lover who will never share her embrace. Who has a cat or dog who will wonder why she never came home. Think about that and do better.”  
He looks at her, shocked, unsure of what to say. She can’t tell, but she thinks he almost looks remorseful. He then gives a curt nod, opens the door, and bolts out of the room. Carmilla sighs again and shakes her head, unsure if she got through to him or not.   
About five minutes later, three gingers and a blond come charging through the door.  
“Carmilla, don’t!” Danny shouts as she bursts through the door first, but then freezes as she sees Carmilla sitting on her bed reading, Gideon nowhere in sight. Gwen, LaFontaine, and Perry nearly come colliding into Danny as they rush in.  
“Carmilla! Wait! Stop!” LaFontaine shouts.  
“Don’t do this!” Perry shouts, “You can’t kill…” She then trails off as she sees Carmilla, now looking away from her book and at them, “…oh.”  
“Hi all.” Carmilla says, “It’s lovely to see you have faith in me.”  
“We just…er…thought that…you know…when you disappeared with Gideon…and…well…” LaFontaine says and rubs the back of their neck in embarrassment, “I mean…you thought….and we thought…”  
“Uh huh, brainiac, you going to get to your point anytime soon?” Carmilla asks, quirking an eyebrow.  
“Where’s Gideon?” Gwen asks, looking around the room, “He’s not like, bleeding out in the bathroom or anything?”  
Carmilla snarls, “No. He’s not here. I let him go.”  
“What?” Danny asks, “Why?”  
Carmilla looks surprised now, “Did you want me to kill him?”  
Danny shakes her head, “No…not really…probably not. No, but why did you let him go. He killed that…”  
“He didn’t kill her.” Carmilla says and they look at her surprised now, “I know. He’s the perfect candidate for it. But he didn’t do it.”  
“And you know this because?” Danny asks.  
“He told me he didn’t.” Carmilla says and Danny groans.  
“And you believed him? God you have gone soft.” Danny says and flops down onto Laura’s bed.  
“I haven’t gone soft you red headed behemoth.” Carmilla snaps, “I could tell he wasn’t lying. He was scared shitless of me and was still sputtering on about not killing the girl. I could hear his damn heartbeat!”  
“Alright, fine, fine.” Danny says, “He wasn’t lying about that. But did you ask him about any of the other stuff?”  
“What other stuff?” Carmilla asks, feigning ignorance.  
“Aw shit, did you not ask him about Phase 2 and the missing students?” Danny asks, “That was the perfect opportunity to…”  
“Of course I fucking asked him about that!” Carmilla interrupts, “He wasn’t really involved in either of those projects. The only thing he knew was that the cards were given to him directly by the Dean.”  
“So she’s definitely involved in that then.” LaFontaine says thinking now and then spots something on the floor. She picks it up and looks at it. It’s another card, like the one Carmilla got before, “What is this?”  
“My hearing got rescheduled…for tomorrow.” Carmilla says.  
“For tomorrow?” Perry asks, “Tomorrow! You can’t have a hearing tomorrow! We haven’t prepared! We’re not ready!”  
“It’s not like I have a choice.” Carmilla says.  
“We have to prepare, we have to spend what remaining time you have to prepare.” Perry says.  
“Way to make it sound like a death sentence Perr.” LaFontaine says laughing darkly.  
“Well, it could be for all we know.” Gwen says and they all shoot her a look, “What? I’m just being honest.”  
“What do we need to prepare?” Carmilla asks, “They’re going to ask me about my past and then I tell them what happened and then they imprison me. It’s as simple as that.”  
“We can’t let that happen.” Perry says, “We can’t. We can’t just let them take you. You’ll disappear and we’ll never see you again, just like those other students.”  
“Perr, I’m not sure there is much we can do.” LaFontaine say, “It’s not like we can send her in there with a tracker or wire or something…” They trail off as they begin to think.  
“What you thinking there, poindexter?” Carmilla asks.  
“There is something I have been working on that might help.” LaFontaine says with a smile.


	41. The voice in my head

The next morning Carmilla makes her way towards the administration building. The campus is mostly empty as most students are still in bed. She spots a few mediators patrolling here and there as well as a few students scurrying about, but for the most part she is on her own.  
She’s walking past the science building when she hears a crackling noise inside her own head. She hisses as the static sound grows louder for a second. She clutches her head until it stops and a voice pops into her mind.  
“HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME?” LaFontaine’s booms through her skull as if a megaphone had been lodged in there.  
“Gaaah!” Carmilla shouts, “For fuck’s sake! It’s too loud! Too loud!”   
“OH SHIT.” LaFontaine says and then whispers, realizing their mistake too late, “Oh shit…sorry. Hold on. We’re making some adjustments on our end.”  
“Adjustments? What adjustments?” Carmilla snarls, “It was working perfectly yesterday!”  
“It’s fine.” LaFontaine whispers, “Nothing to worry about. I just…never mind.”  
“No, you what? Finish what you were going to say.” Carmilla snaps.  
“I…made some minor adjustments last night.” LaFontaine says.  
“Why?” Carmilla asks angrily.  
“Well, I didn’t expect it to work so well.” LaFontaine says, “Or…at all.”  
“You told me you had worked out all the kinks of this system.” Carmilla says, “You told me it was safe before you installed it inside my head!”  
“I…it’s fine. It’s safe. I swear.” LaFontaine says, “It’s just…no, no it’s fine.”  
“Stop doing that!” Carmilla says, “Say it.”  
“It’s just, it’s based off the telepathy from the bug creatures and well, I mean I’m not…quite…exactly sure how that works.” LaFontaine says.  
“WHAT!?” Carmilla yells.  
“It’s fine! I swear! I tested it on rats and they didn’t have too many problems.” LaFontaine replies.  
“What the hell egghead!?” Carmilla shouts, “What the hell does that mean?”  
“See, I’ve noticed that you call me egghead when you’re mad at me and I’d prefer…”  
“Egghead! Now! What does that mean? Am I going to be stuck with your voice in my head?” Carmilla snarls.  
“….no.” LaFontaine says.  
“Why the hesitation? I don’t like that hesitation.” Carmilla says in a low and dangerous voice.  
“No, I don’t think so.” LaFontaine says, “It should only be temporary. I think.”  
“You think?” Carmilla asks, “You think!?”  
“Well with eight of the ten pairs of rats the telepathy dissipated after twenty-four hours.” LaFontaine says.  
“And the other two pairs?” Carmilla asks.  
“Well…for one it dissipated after a week.” LaFontaine says.  
“And the other pair?” Carmilla snarls.  
“It…never did?” LaFontaine replies.  
“I swear to all the gods, if I am stuck with your insipid voice inside my head until you die well…I’m going to kill you.” Carmilla says and for once, LaFontaine believes her.  
“I’m sure…I’m sure it won’t be like that.” LaFontaine says, “Also, are you…talking out loud?”  
“Yes, I’m talking out loud.” Carmilla says.  
“Wow, you must look like a crazy person.” LaFontaine laughs and then shuts up when Carmilla snarls, they clear their throat, “We went over this, you don’t have to speak. It’s telepathy. You can think it.”  
“Are you saying you can read my mind?” Carmilla asks now growing both afraid and then even angrier.  
“No! No! Of course not! Well kind of. But only if you let me. Only what you think out loud to me, like speaking in your head.” LaFontaine says, “Like how I’m speaking to you right now. You can’t read my thoughts…can you?”  
Carmilla thinks for a moment and then says, “Unless you’re thinking about draining yourself dry of blood, I don’t think so.”  
LaFontaine gulps, “Okay, see, yeah, so you don’t have to speak out loud. But you do have to mentally speak…you know?”  
“Shut up for a second and let me try this.” Carmilla say and then begins to think, “You’re an absolute idiot and if this doesn’t work I’m going to drink you dry through a bendy straw.”  
“Well…that’s unnecessary.” LaFontaine says.  
“You heard that?” Carmilla asks in her head.  
“Yes.” LaFontaine says, “And it’ll work, I mean it is working. Also is this volume good? I adjusted it down.”  
“It is.” Carmilla says.  
“Alright broody panther, you ready for this?” LaFontaine asks.  
“No codenames. I had this conversation with Laura and I will have it with you. No fucking codenames.” Carmilla snaps.  
“Fine, grumpy much?” LaFontaine asks.  
“I just found out that I could be stuck with your voice inside my head and I’m now heading off to a hearing where I will most likely be very brutally executed, so I think I have the right to be grumpy, egghead.” Carmilla snaps back.  
“Alright, alright.” LaFontaine says and then mumbles something with the word egghead and bloodsucker in it. Carmilla ignores them and starts heading towards the administration buildings again.  
Carmilla gets there within fifteen minutes, arriving about ten minutes before her hearing. There are several mediators standing guard in front of the administration building where the boarded up remains of the door and front hallway is located. They look down at her sternly.  
“State your business here…freak.” The female guard to her left says. The large, oafish looking guy off to her right laughs dully.  
“I’m here for my hearing.” Carmilla says, grinding her teeth, but ignoring the comment.  
“Oh, you’re one of those, are you?” The girl asks, “Ha, well I hope you find your time here rather unpleasant. I hope they put you down like the dog you are.”   
Carmilla glares at the tall, bleached blond girl with the ugly look on her face and then sniffs the air. She looks at the girl and smiles at her wickedly, “Congratulations.”  
The girl looks at her startled, “What…what does that mean? Weirdo.”  
“I’m congratulating you.” Carmilla says, “Isn’t that what you humans do when you find out someone is pregnant.”  
The girl looks taken aback and the guy looks over at her startled, “I’m not…I’m not pregnant.”  
“Oh?” Carmilla says and smells the air, “I beg to differ. And if I were to guess, it’s probably with that blockhead over there.” Carmilla says pointing to the oaf with his jaw hanging open.  
“But that’s not…I can’t have…no.” The girl says.  
“Babe, why didn’t you tell me?” The guy asks.  
“Because I’m not pregnant David!” She snaps.  
“But like…she says you are.” The guy says, “And she’s like one of those people, they know stuff right?” He looks over at Carmilla, “You can like sense stuff or whatever.”  
“I can.” Carmilla says nodding and sniffs the air again, “I smell…a boy…I think…and maybe…and…I’d guess he’s about two and half months along…maybe three.”  
“What?” The girl says, “No way, no way.”  
“Babe, it’s okay.” David says, “Don’t’ freak out, we’ll figure this out. Whatever you want to do. We’ll…wait…did you say three months?”  
“Yeah, I did.” Carmilla says, “Is that a problem?”  
David turns away from Carmilla and back to his girlfriend, “Babe…I was away three months ago. I was away on a mission to Africa for the summer. You…you can’t be three months pregnant. Otherwise that would mean…”  
“David, I swear. I’m not pregnant.” The girl says.  
“You cheated on me!” David shouts, “You cheated on me! How could you?”  
“I didn’t cheat on you David, I swear!” She shouts back.  
“Then how the fuck are you pregnant!? How the fuck are you pregnant if you didn’t cheat on me!?” David shouts.  
“I don’t know!” She yells.  
“Just tell me! Just tell me the truth!” He shouts, “Just tell me and then maybe…maybe we can work it out.”  
“I…” The girl begins, “I...it was a one night fling. I was drunk. You were gone. And…it was…it was a mistake. I didn’t think it was…I’m sorry.” David turns away from her, furious and Carmilla looks stunned, “David…David I’m sorry. David, baby, look at me. David! Look at me!” She shrieks as he continues to look away from her.  
Carmilla shakes her head as she pushes past the now fighting couple and the whispers into the girl’s ear as she passes, “Hey, you know what you call a blond with two brain cells? Pregnant.” She then escapes inside the building with a chorus of shrieks and curses and death threats issuing from behind her.  
“Holy shit, that was cold blooded.” LaFontaine says laughing and then says, “Wait, can you really tell when someone is pregnant.”  
“Sure, but not by smell. I can only tell when I hear a heartbeat.” Carmilla says.  
“So you heard the heartbeat?” LaFontaine asks.  
Carmilla laughs, “Of course not. She wasn’t pregnant.” She then makes her way into the conference her spirits lifted, but only slightly.


	42. Hearing

Carmilla walks through the hallways of the administration building. It’s quiet and dark and makes her feel the same sense of dread she always experienced when meeting her mother. But her mother is dead and all that stands between her and her girlfriend is a bunch of humans who have no idea who they’re dealing with. She reminds herself of this over and over again, attempting to not be intimidated by the atmosphere around her.  
She walks past the Dean’s office, having flashbacks of talking to her mother in there and of being burnt by holy water as steam. She continues on and remembers the secret passageway that lead into the library as they went to their final battle with the bug creatures. She never would have thought that those were better times, but any time that she had Laura by her side was better than now. Even them going to their potential doom felt better than how she feels right now.  
She sighs and continues on, making her way towards the conference room she was told the hearing was being held. She walks up to the twin doors and reaches her hand up to knock. Before she cans hears a voice call through.  
“Come in Miss Karnstein!”  
Carmilla rolls her eyes at the drama of it all. And makes her way into the room. The room itself is of medium size, with dark wood covering the walls, and a deep red carpet on the floor. Carmilla laughs to herself as she remembers why the carpet was that color in the first place. She looks at the walls and finds no decorations, no paintings, or any other adornments. The room is barren. She scowls, and thinks that although her mother was a demonic bitch from the pits of hell, at least she had style. This place seemed so drab without anything in it.  
The only thing in the room was a large, wooden u-shaped desk that filled up nearly one half of the room. Sitting there behind the desk were nine people. There was the Dean of course, sitting at the head of the table, at the bend in the U. Sitting next to her on her right was a tall, thin man with a shaved head a long white beard. Carmilla felt he looked like a wizard, except for the fact that he wasn’t in robes, but in a dark suit. Next to him was a pale man with the whitest blond hair Carmilla had ever seen and icy blue eyes dressed in a gray suit. Next to him, was a tall, dark skinned woman dressed in all purple. Next to her is the toad like woman dressed in a frumpy green.  
On the other side of the Dean is the nervous man, who is fidgeting in his seat. He’s wearing an ugly brown suit and his hair is combed over his head. Next to him is an elderly Asian woman with a large, colorful red hat on her head. She appears to be asleep. Next to her is a thickset man, with huge arms, and a large bushy mustache. Next to him is a young woman, who can’t be much older than the students. She looks to be in her late twenties and has dark brown hair and eyes. Carmilla notices that she is wearing a strange necklace. It’s large, blocky, and looks almost mechanical in nature. If it didn’t hang loosely around her neck, Carmilla would almost think it was a collar of some kind.  
The young woman is also the only one besides the sleeping woman to not look completed grim faced. She has a smile on and looks happy to be there. She even gives Carmilla a wink as she walks in. Carmilla is unsure of what to make of that.  
As soon as Carmilla enters the room the Dean clears her throat and gestures towards a chair near the center of the U-shaped desk. Carmilla takes the hint and walks over, doing her best to be as confident as possible in her strides. She sits down smoothly and adorns an apathetic façade, barely showing interest in those around her. To all observing her, she seems poised and a bit aloof, like the fact that she’s on trial means nothing to her and that she has much more important things to do than be here. But inside, despite her hundreds of years of life, Carmilla is nervous. She isn’t sure how this is going to go and she has a bad feeling overall.  
“Miss Karnstein.” The Dean says, but Carmilla doesn’t look up at her, instead she observes her nails as if they are more interesting than the people in the room.  
The Dean clears her throat again and says more forcefully, “Miss Karnstein!”  
Carmilla hears LaFontaine in her head, “Hey dingdong, you don’t want to piss these people off, especially not the Dean. Your fate is in their hands.”  
Carmilla groans in her own head and replies to LaFontaine, “I will behave how I decide. I will not cower in fear at these mere mortals.”  
“Oh, so now we have a god complex do we?” LaFontaine asks, “Well stuff it and behave. We need you out of there alive.”  
“Fine.” Carmilla says and then looks up at the Dean and speaks, “Yes?”  
“Do you know why we are all here today?” The Dean asks.  
“Because a bunch of pompous, pretentious, stick in the…” Carmilla begins and gets a scolding from LaFontaine.  
“Carmilla!” LaFontaine shouts inside her head and Carmilla cringes and stops speaking.  
Carmilla pauses for a moment and then says, “I’m sorry, I don’t know why we are here today.”  
The Dean scowls, but continues, “We’re here today to decide what to do with you Miss Karnstein. You have a…colorful history with this school and with the student body therein. We are here to determine your fate Miss Karnstein. Whether we let you continue on without punishment for what you have done or whether we feel you are too dangerous to be free amongst the population the way you are now.”  
Carmilla sits up straighter and frowns “Are you telling me that if you find me…guilty of whatever you have decided I am guilty of, that you’ll what…kill me?” Carmilla tenses, preparing herself to attack or flee if necessary.  
All the people around the table laugh to themselves, including the Dean, but it isn’t a pleasant sound.  
“No Miss Karnstein, we will not kill you. We have…other methods to handle one such as yourself.” The Dean says with a smirk.  
“Other methods?” Carmilla asks.  
“That is none of your concern right now, young lady.” The wizard like man says.  
“The hell it isn’t my concern!” Carmilla shouts and then says, “And young lady? Really? I am three hundred and thirty six years old! I am at least four times your age, young man. So don’t you think to call me young lady again, I am far older, wiser, and experienced much more than you.”  
“There is no need to yell.” The woman in purple says, “And it doesn’t do much for our opinion of you Miss Karnstein.”  
“Fine.” Carmilla says, “Let’s get on with this kangaroo court then.”  
The Dean nods and shuffles some notes on her desk, “Alright then, is it true that you were turned by the former Dean Lilita Morgan?”  
Carmilla nods stiffly, “Yes.”  
“And you worked with her for centuries kidnapping girls and sacrificing them to the elder god creature known as…” The Dean says looking at her notes, “Lophiliformes.”  
“Yes.” Carmilla says.  
“One of those girls was a girl named Elle?” The Dean asks and there is something in her tone that Carmilla can’t quite place.  
“Yes.” Carmilla says.  
“And you fell in love with her?” The Dean asked.  
“Yes.” Carmilla says.  
“But she didn’t fall in love with you, did she? So you mesmerized her. Made her believe she was in love with you and then you kidnapped her. You attempted to take her away from her family and her friends and loved ones so that you could have her. But that meant leaving Lilita and she wouldn’t have it. So in your foolishness you and Elle got captured by Lilita and taken. You were placed in a blood coffin and Elle, she was given over to Lophiliformes?” The Dean asks and there is a fire in her eyes, a hardness in her voice.  
“Whoa, what was that?” LaFontaine asks.  
“What?” Carmilla says, “No! That is not what happened. We were in love, with each other. I didn’t want that life anymore with my mother. I wanted to be free and Elle showed me a life worth living outside of my mother’s control. I tried to escape with her, but my mother found out…she always finds out and she revealed to Elle…what I was. Elle thought…she thought I was a monster and so my mother captured me and took Elle. I didn’t want…I didn’t want what happened to the others to happened to her…but I failed….I couldn’t save her…I couldn’t…” Carmilla says and hangs her head.  
“A likely tale.” The Dean says without much belief, but writes down what Carmilla says anyway, “You still claim you have no mesmer ability?”  
“I do not.” Carmilla says.  
“Noted.” The Dean replies, “Alright, well, after you spent eighty years in the coffin you were freed due to the events of World War 2. There is not much recorded of your time between your escape and when your mother found you again. So we’ll skip over that, unless you have something to add?”  
Carmilla shakes her head, “No.”  
“Fine. So, then your mother found you in the fifties and by then she had taken over Silas for at least fifty years. She recruited you again and enrolled you in the school where you would spend the next sixty years or so doing the exact same thing you did before. Kidnapping girls and giving them to your mother for Lophiliformes.”  
“I would like to add that I didn’t know she was sacrificing the girls to Lophiliformes.” Carmilla says.  
“That doesn’t mean much now, does it?” The pale man says, “You didn’t know she was sacrificing them to Lophiliformes, sure, but you knew your mother was doing something wicked with them. You may not have known what, but you knew that they were being killed.”  
“Fine, yes, I knew that something bad was happening to them.” Carmilla says.  
“And so for over sixty years you were an accomplice in kidnapping and murder by the hands of the Dean.” The Dean says, “And many more years before that.”  
“I rescued many girls as well. Got them out. Made them leave so they wouldn’t be taken.” Carmilla counters.  
“Yes, but you then just replaced them with others.” The Dean says.  
“I was trapped. I had no choice. My mother…I couldn’t fight her. She was too strong, too powerful. It was either follow her orders or die.” Carmilla says.  
“And so you chose the cowardly way out.” The Dean says, “You chose to save yourself and sacrifice others in your stead.”  
“I regret what I had to do. I regret the fact that people had to die.” Carmilla says, “But I believe that many would have done the same as me. I believe you would have done the same.”  
“Don’t bait her Carmilla.” LaFontaine says.  
“She’s had students kidnapped and killed just to prove that supernatural students are… evil or something.” Carmilla thinks to LaFontaine, “What she’s doing is far worse than whatever I did.”  
The Dean’s eyes flash from their gunmetal blue to a stormy gray for just a moment again and then she says, “You do not know me Miss Karnstein, so do not presume to know what I would or would not have done.”  
“Fine.” Carmilla says, “Continue with your admonishments.”  
“So then, last year you meet a girl named…” The Dean looks at her notes, “Laura Hollis, ah yes, Miss Hollis. A fine mediator. Despite her size she is a strong fighter and she is also incredibly passionate about her work. She’ll make a great leader someday.” There is a hint of pride in her voice and Carmilla feels a mixture of her own pride and disgust that the Dean thinks anything of her Laura. The Dean continues, “Anyway, you get assigned as Miss Hollis’s roommate after your vampire cabal kidnapped her former roommate, one Elizabeth Spielsdorf. So, you room with Miss Hollis, who begins to investigate her roommate’s disappearance. At some point during this time period, you put Miss Hollis under your mesmer ability and make her love you. But you also decide to switch sides and assist Miss Hollis in defeating your mother and this Lophiliformes creature. You defeat your mother and this creature and then decide to flee the campus after it becomes unstable.”  
“I didn’t mesmerize Laura.” Carmilla snarls out, “We are…were…in love.”  
“Careful, lover girl.” LaFontaine says and hears a snarling noise in their own head in response.  
“So you will have us believe.” The woman in purple says, “But we’ve all read the report. Miss Hollis claims that she was under your control for nearly a year before breaking free.”  
“She is mistaken.” Carmilla says “I do not, nor have I ever had such an ability. And don’t you see a flaw in that logic? If Laura was mesmerized by me, why would I continue with her stupid plans to overthrow my mother? Why put myself into that kind of danger?”  
“Because it is our belief, that despite the fact that her love for you was false, your love for her was very real. You fell in love with her Miss Karnstein and for the first time since Elle, wanted out. You just happened to be a bit luckier this time.” The Dean says, “Or it would be luckier except for the fact that neither time did the girl actually love you, but was under some kind of spell. Tell me, Miss Karnstein, is your personality that repulsive that you can’t get anyone to really love you.”  
“That is uncalled for Viktoria.” The girl in her twenties says with a frown just as Carmilla explodes.  
“How dare you!” Carmilla shouts and gets up from her seat.  
“Sit down Miss Karnstein!” The old wizard man shouts, but Carmilla remains standing. She’s fuming now. She’s had enough of this throughout the past few months. She’s had enough of these people. She feels the need to rip out their throats and wonders if she can get to each and every one of them before any sort of security breaks in to stop her. She hears voices shouting at her, telling her to be quiet and sit back down and behave herself and this makes her even more furious as they are treating her like a child, when they are the children. Children with no understanding of what they’ve gotten themselves into, but will puff up their chests and pretend anyway, even if it does more harm than good.  
She ignores them all, shouting at her and even bickering with one another until the young girl off to her left says to her, “Carmilla, please, sit down again.”  
Carmilla looks over at her and finds that she is no longer smiling and while her face is serious, she doesn’t look upset. Carmilla frowns though and says, “Will there be more personal attacks on my love life like that? Because I will not stand for that. I will not.”  
“No Carmilla, it will not happen again.” The girl says and shoots a look at the Dean. Carmilla sees a hardness in the girl’s eyes she hasn’t seen before, an anger there, and then its gone as the girl turns back to her.  
“Fine.” Carmilla says and sits back down, “Continue.”  
The Dean has a small frown on her face, but then says, “I apologize Miss Karnstein. Miss Thelxiope is right. Personal attacks of such a nature are unprofessional and uncalled for and I am sorry.”  
“Apology not accepted.” Carmilla says and then turns to Thelxiope, “Thelxiope, that’s quite a name.”  
Thelxiope shrugs, “It’s Greek.”  
The Dean clears her throat, drawing Carmilla’s attention back to her, “Shall we continue?”  
“Do I have a choice?” Carmilla asks.  
“No.” The Deans says.  
“The name Thelxiope sounds familiar for some reason.” LaFontaine says to Carmilla.  
“Familiar how?” Carmilla thinks.  
“I don’t know.” LaFontaine says and there is a pause before they speak again, “Perry thinks it sounds familiar too.”  
“Oh, Perry is there?” Carmilla thinks, “I should have known.”  
“Of course she’s here. She also wants to know if you drank enough blood this morning. She’s concerned you’re not eating enough.” LaFontaine says.  
“This is really not the time for this.” Carmilla thinks harshly and she can practically feel LaFontaine roll their eyes.  
“So you defeat Lophiliformes and your mother and despite the fact that the campus was in complete disarray due to your own actions, you decide the best thing to do is to run.” The Dean says.  
“Students died.” The pale man says, “Because of what you did.”  
“What I did was save this campus from my mother and that god monster.” Carmilla snarls back at him, “How is it my fault that students died on this campus after they were dead.”  
“Because Miss Karnstein.” The Dean says, “You created a power vacuum. One which my organization managed to eventually fill. We cleaned up your mess Miss Karnstein. We stopped more students from dying.”  
“Fine, you managed to do one thing right. Would you like a pat on the back? A trophy? A cookie?” Carmilla asks, “Because you managed to prevent the school from imploding on itself? Good job. You managed to run a campus. Great. But let’s not forget that your organization had been trying to insert itself into this campus for decades without any success. You’d been trying to stop my mother and Lophiliformes for decades. A super powerful, super wealthy organization with tons of tools and man power and you couldn’t do in fifty years what my friends and I did in a semester. So let’s remember that, shall we.”  
The Dean grinds her teeth, but spits out a, “Fine. Noted.” She then looks at her notes and continues, “So you fled, but once things died down, once we made the campus stable again, you decided to return.”  
“Yes.” Carmilla says.  
“Why?” The Dean asks.  
“I go to school here.” Carmilla says as if this is the most obvious thing in the world.  
“Miss Karnstein, as you have stated previously, you are over three hundred years old. And according to our records you have completed several degrees. You’ve gone to school longer than most of us have been alive. So I will repeat my question, why did you return?” The Dean says.  
“Because my girlfriend goes here.” Carmilla replies, “And because…what…what else would I do?”  
“Alright then.” The Dean says, “So you returned and became involved in another investigation, this one involving the murder of Miss Adam’s roommate.”  
“Yes.” Carmilla replies.  
“Through a series of events you learned about our organization and also about the bug creatures and their Queen. You then killed the demonic bugs’ Queen.” The Dean says.  
“And saved thousands of students in the process." Thelxiope adds.  
“Yes, thank you.” Carmilla says, “I was just going to say the same thing.”  
“Thank you for your opinion Thelxiope.” The Dean says darkly.  
“It’s not an opinion its…” Thelxiope begins.  
The Dean glares at her, “Your thoughts are noted.” Thelxiope looks annoyed, but doesn’t say anything else.  
“I saved the Dean of last semester as well, one of the people from you organization.” Carmilla says, “And several of your agents.”  
“Yes, yes.” The wizard man says, “You were helpful in some ways, we know this.”  
“I just wanted it on record, since you seemed to be glossing over it.” Carmilla replies.  
“It’s noted.” The Dean says, “Alright, that brings us to this semester, which is not currently under review. So now that we are done with this portion of the hearing, let’s move onto the next. Judgment.”  
“Judgment?” Carmilla says, “Are you sure it isn’t trial by combat?”  
“Silence Miss Karnstein.” The Dean says, “I would like to put on record, that anything done outside the confines of this school, before, during, or after enrollment shall not be included in our decision and should therefore be removed from your judgments.”  
“Then why did we go over them?” Carmilla asks annoyed, “Why mention any of it?”  
“It is relevant for context.” The Dean replies and then continues, “Miss Karnstein, I am going to have to ask you to leave the room while we review what was discussed here today and make our decision. Please wait outside in the hallway. If you attempt to leave, you will be viewed as an immediate threat to this school and will be captured and imprisoned.”  
“If you can catch me.” Carmilla replies and hears a groan in her head.  
“What was that Miss Karnstein?” The Dean asks.  
“Nothing.” Carmilla replies and gets up, “I’ll just be outside. Take your time, it’s not like I have classes or other things to attend to or anything like that.” She can feel the glares on her back as she leaves, but she cares very little for their opinion of her.


	43. Decision

Carmilla exits the room and back out into the hallway. She steps out and finds twenty mediators immediately there, standing guard along the walls, staring at her. They all stare at her and move in closer, hands on the weapons on their belts.  
“Hey everyone.” Carmilla says giving a wave, but barely gets any response, “Rude.”  
“Don’t bait them.” LaFontaine says.  
“I’ll do as I please.” Carmilla thinks.”  
“You’re going to get yourself killed is what you’re going to do.” LaFontaine replies.  
“Fine.” Carmilla thinks and leans up against the wall, after a pause she then turns to the gathered mediators, “So what do you think they’re talking about in there?” There’s another groan inside her head from LaFontaine.  
They stand out in the hallway for over an hour with no word from what’s going on inside. Carmilla tries to listen in a few times, but realizes they probably have that barrier up as all the sounds are muffled. She does hear shouting at one point, but can’t make out the words.  
She tries to engage in conversation with some of the mediators, but realizes she’d have better luck talking to the wall. The stony faced, grim looking mediators barely even look at her as they stand there keeping guard. And when they do, there is barely hidden disgust in their eyes. She wonders briefly if any of them are friends of Laura’s.  
LaFontaine talks with her every once in a while, but they have their own things they have to do. So Carmilla is left to herself and her own thoughts, a place she’d rather not be, especially right now. Her thoughts drift immediately to Laura and what she’s up to. She wonders if she’s safe, if she’s keeping herself out of trouble. She then has to laugh and think that there is no way Laura is keeping herself out of trouble.  
After another half an hour of waiting she’s practically lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling in the middle of the administration building when the door creaks open. She hears a voice on the other side.  
“Come in!” The Dean commands and Carmilla slowly gets to her feet and moves into the room. What surprises her slightly is that all of the mediators follow in behind her. They stand like a gray wall at the back of the room, staring ahead, hands still on their weapons. It makes her nervous.  
“I’m back in the room.” She thinks to LaFontaine, “All the mediators that were out in the hallway came with me.”  
“That cannot be good.” LaFontaine says.  
“I didn’t think so.” Carmilla replies.  
“Be careful.” LaFontaine says.  
“Thanks brainiac, real helpful.” Carmilla thinks as she takes a seat down in front of everyone again.  
“Alright Miss Karnstein, we’ve come to a decision.” The Dean says, clears her throat, and then her gunmetal blue eyes lock onto Carmilla’s. There’s an excitement in her eyes, a glee, and a spark of madness. It’s only there for a moment, a flash, too fast for anyone else to see, but Carmilla spots it and can only describe that look as one thing, deranged. It makes her instantly nervous.  
“We have reviewed your case.” The Dean continues, “Gone over everything. And we have come to the conclusion that you are just too dangerous to be kept on this campus, too much of a liability. So as of…” She looks at her watch, “11:43 on November the 2nd of 2015, Carmilla Karnstein is expelled from Silas University and cannot return to this campus within ten years’ time or be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”  
Carmilla scowls, but nods, fully expecting this. She begins to stand up and notices Thelxiope beginning to stand up as well as if getting ready to leave. But no one else stands and Thelxiope notices and looks around confused.  
“Sit down Miss Karnstein.” The Dean says, “We are not done here.”  
“Not done?” Thelxiope asks, “She was expelled, what else is there?”  
“You too Thelxiope, sit down.” The Dean says and Thelxiope sits down with confusion still on her face.  
“You’re not letting me go, are you?” Carmilla asks, but she already knows the answer.  
“No.” The Dean says, “We cannot let you out into the world. You are far too dangerous. Besides, we have other uses for you.”  
“I thought so.” Carmilla says.  
Thelxiope stands up again and says, “What is this? What are you doing?”  
The Dean ignores her, “Carmilla Karnstein, for crimes against humanity, we sentence you to one hundred years of imprisonment with a reduced sentence of only ten years contingent upon rehabilitation.”  
“You can’t do this!” Thelxiope shouts, “This isn’t a court room! She has rights and…”  
“She does not.” The Dean says, “Silence yourself Thelxiope.”  
“I will not. I will not let you do this.” Thelxiope says.  
The Dean turns her cold gaze onto Thelxiope, “Or what? What will you do?” She reaches her hand over to her watch and Thelxiope clutches at the necklace around her throat and Carmilla wonders if she was right in thinking that it was a collar of some kind.  
“As the representative of the supernatural community on this board, I tell you that what you are doing is reprehensible and will be brought up to the supernatural community at large.” Thelxiope says.  
“No it won’t.” The Dean says, “Do you remember why you are here? Do you remember who saved you? Do you remember who you serve? You are free, so long as you serve us Thelxiope. The moment you stop becoming useful to us, you will join your siblings. Do you hear me?”  
Thelxiope looks frightened and Carmilla almost feels bad for her, almost, if she wasn’t just going to sit there and allow Carmilla to be taken. But that is just what Thelxiope does. She sits back down in her seat, looking furious, but also looking defeated. Carmilla can empathize, but wishes that Thelxiope could be more, more than she was.  
Carmilla turns away from Thelxiope and back to the Dean, “I hope you know that I won’t go quietly.”  
“I wouldn’t expect it any other way.” The Deans says, “Guards!”  
Carmilla drops to the ground into a crouch and hears several shots of some kind of dart fly overhead. She sees them stick into the desk and wall and hears a few shouts as the council members nearly get hit. The darts look to be filled with the same toxin they used to incapacitate her last semester, so she knows they are serious about this.  
She quickly transforms into her panther form and lunges for the nearest mediator. She clamps her teeth around his leg and drags him to the floor as he howls in pain. She then dodges another series of darts and takes down three more mediators.  
Overall the fight only lasts about a minute and in the end, she ends up with three darts in her skin, one in the neck, two in the legs. Not enough to kill her, but enough to paralyze her. And although they manage to capture her, she did take down fifteen of the twenty mediators and light the wizard looking man’s beard on fire, before the third dart struck.  
The third dart hits her in the neck on the left side just as she is lunging at the woman in purple. She drops onto the desk with a loud thud and only has enough energy to flop her head over to see the Dean, standing there with a gun in her hand, and a maniacal grin on her face. Due to the effects of the toxin she shifts back into her human form and the last thing she sees before she blacks out is the Dean walking towards her. The last thing she hears is LaFontaine’s voice in her head, shouting her name over and over again.  
The last thing she thinks to LaFontaine is, “This better work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about not having posted last week, with work and school stuff I just got busy and behind in my writing. But here we are, slowly getting to the later stages of the fic. We're not that close to the end, but we're getting there. And as always, things get worse before they get better.
> 
> Also, after much pestering by my friends and some people online, I have gotten a tumblr. http://thesnarkydruid.tumblr.com/ Although, to be honest I have no idea what to do with it. What do I even do with a tumblr account? What do you guys want to talk about? Should I post my Carmilla artwork, I know some people do that. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys have a good day and are all surviving the events of the show.


	44. Best Laid Plans

Carmilla wakes up later, though she isn’t sure how much later. She knows it’s not more than a few days as she still can’t move most of her body. She struggles to open her eyes, but once she does she regrets it immediately as the bright, glaring lights hurt far more than light has any right to.  
She groans and it comes out as a weak gurgling noise as she can barely move her lips and chest. She closes her eyes for a bit more and then opens them even more slowly this time. It only makes it slightly better and she has to blink several times to try and get use to the light. Once she does get used to it she tries to look around and get her bearings. Her head and neck are stiff though, so she’s left to just looking around with her eyes.   
Everything is white and pristine, reminding her of a hospital or a lab, she isn’t sure which. The room is barren expect for the bed she’s lying on and the door at one end of the room. This makes her think of a prison. She looks up and sees a blood bag hanging from an IV rack with an IV going directly into her arm.   
She tries to listen for voices or footsteps, but all she hears is the drip of the blood. Although, a few times she thinks she hears whimpering or moaning, but it’s so faint she isn’t sure it’s real.  
She lays like that for another few minutes before she remembers something, “LaF?” She thinks, hoping that she hasn’t been here for more than twenty four hours.  
She doesn’t hear anything and feels her stomach drop. If the connection has been broken, then she’s alone in this. They won’t know where she is, what’s happening, and she’ll have to get out of this on her own.   
She tries again, “LaF? Brainiac! Nerdlinger! Egghead! LaFontaine? Anyone?” There is still no answer and Carmilla realizes that she is truly alone.

 

LaFontaine and Perry’s room

LaFontaine is sitting at their computer with all kinds of strange devices and machines around them. They seem to be fiddling with the devices and every once in a while looking at some readings on the computer. They then close their eyes for a few moments and then open them when nothing happens.   
Perry is in the kitchen making dinner. Her body a ball of nervous energy as she practically vibrates around the room. She doesn’t say anything, but anyone nearby can tell she’s anxious.  
Danny, Gwen, and Kirsch are there as well. Danny and Gwen are sitting on the couch. Danny is sitting there, hunched over, stiff as a board, every muscle in her body tense as she looks at the floor. Gwen is next to her, clutching her guitar to her, too nervous to even play. Kirsch is in an arm chair, drumming his hands and feet to an unknown rhythm in his head as he nervously looks around the room. They sit there, unsure of what to do.  
After several more minutes of silence, except for Perry in the kitchen and Kirsch on the arm chair, Danny finally explodes, “Could you stop!” She shouts at Kirsch who is startled by her outburst as is everyone else. She looks embarrassed and shakes her head, “I’m sorry, sorry, it was just…it was getting to me.”  
“Sorry bro, I didn’t mean to.” Kirsch says, “I’m just…I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know how to help.”  
“You and me both.” Danny says with a scowl.  
Gwen leans over and looks at LaFontaine, “Any word?”  
LaFontaine shakes their head, “Sorry guys, nothing. I haven’t heard from her in two hours.”  
“What does that mean?” Danny asks.  
“It means she’s either still unconscious or that they’re blocking our signal somehow…or both.” LaFontaine says.  
“Is there any…” Gwen begins, but is interrupted as someone comes crashing through the door. Everyone tenses up, expecting an attack, and Danny, Gwen and Kirsch are already on their feet.  
The person stumbles through the door and looks around the room frantically, “I got word that they took her. I only just now was able to get away. What’s going on? What’s happening? Is it working? Is she in?”  
Everyone relaxes as they see its Laura, the three standing sit down. Laura comes striding over to LaFontaine and everyone notices she’s not wearing her gray mediator uniform. She’s dressed in a blue button up and jeans, with white sneakers. She looks just as she should, she looks like Laura.  
“We can’t get in contact with her.” LaFontaine says and watches as Laura’s complexion lightens several degrees.  
“What do you mean you can’t get in contact with her? You told me this could get through anything since it’s a telepathic link!” Laura says frantically, “What about the tracker?”  
“I think they’re blocking me.” LaFontaine says, “We wouldn’t get any word from her if she were unconscious, but the tracker should still work and it isn’t. I think they’re blocking it somehow.”  
“Well, can you get through? Get around it? Shut it down?” Laura asks.  
“I’ve been trying to for the last hour or so.” LaFontaine says, “With not much luck.”  
“So what are you saying? Are you saying we’ve lost track of her?” Laura asks, her tone just short of hysterical.  
“Uh…” LaFontaine begins as they return to typing on their computer, “For now. But I’ve working on it.”  
Laura begins to pace the room, “This was stupid. This was so stupid. I should have never let her do this. We had a good plan going. I was in there; I was the only one in danger. But we had to jump the gun like this, we had to do something so stupid! Aaah!” She kicks at the bed and then cries out and hops up and down on one foot as she jams her toes.  
“Laura, calm yourself.” LaFontaine says, “You didn’t let her do anything. She was going to do this no matter what.”  
“Besides, it’s not like she had a choice.” Gwen says, “They were going to take her. At least this way we were prepared…sort of.”  
“And it’s not a stupid plan.” Danny says, “It was a good plan, is a good plan. We’ll get it to work, you’ll see.”  
“We shouldn’t be here.” Laura says shaking her head, “Why did we come back? Why did I come back? We could have left, gone to another school, lived normal lives. But no, I had to come back, I had to involve myself in all of this, again.” She continues to pace, running her hands through her hair nervously, “I’m so stupid. So stupid.”  
“Laura, you’re not stupid. You came back to help people, to help this campus, to help your friends.” LaFontaine says, “You had to come back. You’d never forgive yourself if you didn’t. And Carmilla had to come with you. It’s just the way it works. I know you’re worried, but we’ll find her. I promise you that, we’ll find her.”  
“But before they do…whatever it is they have planned? Before they start Phase 2?” Laura asks and no one answers her, “See the silence is not exactly helping. Aren’t you guys supposed to say something reassuring right about now.”  
“We’ll find her honey!” Perry says from the kitchen.  
Laura nods to herself, “Yes, yes, we’ll find her, we’ll find her.”  
There’s a hand suddenly on her shoulder and she looks up to see Danny standing there, “Laura, we’ll find her, we promise you that.”  
Laura smiles and some of the tension eases out of her body. She’s missed this, her friends, this camaraderie, this feeling of belonging. Sure the mediators had a strange sort of brotherhood to them, but it wasn’t the same. Their brotherhood was founded on hate, a hatred of others. Underneath all the jokes, and laughing, and friendships, there was still that kernel of darkness there. Everyone was angry underneath the surface and that could come out at any time. It made her feel anxious, not at ease. Not like she does with her friends.  
With her friends, she always knew they would be there for her no matter what; they would always support her, and care for her. That was a rare thing to find and she missed it. She didn’t realize how much she missed it until this very moment. But being back here with her friends, working on saving the campus, it felt right, it felt good.   
It would feel perfect if Carmilla wasn’t missing.   
“Thanks guys.” Laura says and then leans over LaFontaine to look at the computer, “So something is blocking us from tracking Carmilla.”  
“My guess is that it’s that special force field thing they use.” Gwen says from over on the couch. They all turn to look at her, “You know, the one they used during registration?”  
“Yes, I remember that honey!” Perry shouts from the kitchen.  
“Wait, they had a force field?” LaFontaine asks, “Like an actual force field?”  
“Yeah…I think so.” Gwen says, “I don’t know if it was tech or magic or some combination of the two. But it protected them from an explosion, muffled sounds so I couldn’t use my werewolf hearing, and stung when I touched it.”  
“And it could probably block magic.” LaFontaine says, “At least, that’s what I would do if I were them. Actually, a variation of that might be over the whole campus. That might be what’s preventing Carmilla and others from leaving.”  
“Could it block all communications?” Danny asks.  
“You think it could be what’s screwing up the social media?” LaFontaine asks and then slams their hands on the desk making everyone jump, “Of course! Why didn’t I think of this before? It’s not the magical force field! They had their own intranet system set up last semester, they just expanded it to include the whole campus and created bots to make it seem like we were getting out in the world. They probably have some kind of filter system so that stuff can come in from outside the campus, but our stuff doesn’t get out. Damn it! I should have figured that out sooner. None our stuff has made it past this campus.”  
“We need to figure out how to get past their security system.” Gwen says, “So we can communicate with the rest of the world.”  
“That’s definitely on the to do list.” Laura says, “But we have a slightly more pressing concern.”  
“Right, yes, Carmilla, of course.” Gwen says nodding, “You have a plan for that?”  
“You were right about the force field I think.” Laura says, “I’ve seen it in use, it does block magic. So it’s probably what’s preventing us from finding Carmilla. But a force field like that needs a lot of power, whether magical or otherwise, something is powering it or allowing it to work.”  
“So we like blow up whatever is powering it, right?” Kirsch asks.  
“Well I don’t know if blowing it up is the best idea.” Laura says, “But you’re on the right track.”  
“We have to find the power source.” Danny says, “Okay…do you know where that is?” She turns to Laura.  
“Nope, but I bet LaFontaine can find it.” Laura says turning to LaFontaine with a grin.  
LaFontaine grins back, “Something pumping out that much juice? You bet I can find it.”  
“Alright guys, let’s go save my girlfriend.” Laura says.


	45. I suppose its time I told you

Carmilla spends the next several hours going in and out of consciousness. She tries to stay awake, but finds herself having some difficulties. She begins to wonder if the blood that they’re pumping into her system has something in it. She then also wonders what kind of drug can drug a vampire. Probably another one of this organization’s crazy concoctions they found in some remote region of wherever.  
A few times when she is awake she thinks she hears voices in the room with her. There are flashes of people in scrubs with needles and other equipment. But there are gaps in her memory, black spots that she can’t get access too. Mostly when she wakes, she finds herself alone though, with just the dripping of the IV to keep her company. She tries several more times to contact LaFontaine, but without any success.   
She realizes she’s on her own in this and any escape she is going to make, she will have to do herself. The hardest part though right now is keeping focused. She finds her mind wandering, her attention drifting, and her eyes closing far too easily. She has to force herself to stay awake and with much of her attention on that, it’s hard for her to create any sort of plan.   
The first thing she tries is teleportation even though she doubts it will work. It doesn’t. The next thing she tries to is to force her way out of her restraints, but the paralytic is still in effect and she can barely move, not to mention the fact that the drug is making her feel weak and woozy. Even if she does get out of her restraints, she doesn’t think she could walk or even stand.   
She realizes, her best option is to try and stop the IV somehow. Even if she can’t move right now, it’ll at least let her think more clearly so she can come up with a plan later.   
She looks over at the blood bag and knows that if she could just get up, if she could just move her hands or something she could turn it off. But she can’t move. Not only is she still partially paralyzed, but she’s strapped down, and too weak to move.  
She thinks for a moment and then turns her attention back to the IV. She has an idea, but she isn’t sure she has enough energy for it to work. But fortunately, she only needs a little bit to do it. Carmilla focuses on the blood bag, especially on the area where it was punctured to allow the blood to flow out. She focuses on the plastic surrounding that area, trying to melt it with her mind. She doesn’t want to set it on fire or destroy it too much because she doesn’t want to break the bag and have the blood spill everywhere. That’s a dead giveaway and she doesn’t know when the doctors or whoever was working on her will come back.  
So, slowly, very slowly, she heats the plastic, melting it, putting all the focus she has into sealing up the bag again. She stares with intensity at the bag for nearly fifteen minutes before the IV stops dripping. Once it does, she relaxes back onto the bed, realizing that the muscles she can move were tense. She closes her eyes and feels a wave of exhaustion overtake her. She drifts back into unconsciousness again, hoping that if the doctors do come back while she’s asleep, they don’t pay too close attention to her IV and notice that it’s no longer working.

 

LaFontaine and Perry’s room

Laura is sitting on LaFontaine and Perry’s bed, tapping her foot nervously while LaFontaine is working on locating the power source of the force field. She lets out a sigh.  
“You staring at me isn’t going to make this go any faster.” LaFontaine says with their back turned to Laura.  
“What…I wasn’t…I mean…I didn’t mean to…I mean…sorry.” Laura blurts out and LaFontaine laughs. Laura continues, “I just feel so useless right now.”  
“Don’t we all.” Danny says from the couch.  
Perry comes rushing in and hands Laura a cup of hot chocolate. She then sits down next to her on the bed, “You’re not useless dear. In fact, you’ve helped me quite a bit and for that I will forever be grateful.”  
“How do you mean?” Laura asks and then spots the bracelet on Perry’s wrist, “Oh! The wristband! I take it LaFontaine figured out how to shut it off.”  
“I did.” LaFontaine says still working, “Thanks to those blueprints you smuggled away. So, thank you for that.” They turn around and lock eyes with Laura and Laura sees truly how grateful they are, “Thank you.”  
Laura blushes, unsure of what to say, but she manages out a soft, “You’re welcome.” They turn back around and continue to work.  
“So, you’re like supernatural right?” Kirsch asks Perry who looks over at him surprised.  
“Yes, I am.” Perry says.  
“And the level six thing means you’re like super powerful?” Kirsch asks.  
“Um…I suppose…yes.” Perry says.  
“That is so totally cool.” Kirsch says with a huge grin and Perry can’t help but smile back.  
“Speaking of which, the journalist in me is curious as to what…I mean…er…how do I…I don’t…can I ask what you are? Is that…offensive?” Laura asks nervously, “And just so you know, I don’t’ care. You don’t have to tell me. I don’t care what you are. You’re my friend no matter what. I’m just curious is all. But you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I know this kind of stuff can be very personal and I don’t want you to think that I’m forcing you to…”  
“Laura, sshhhh, shhh.” Perry says laughing slightly, “It’s okay. I understand.” She then thinks for a moment and looks around nervously at the room full of people. She then shrugs and says, “I suppose it’s about time I told you all.” She lets out a sigh and looks down at her feet. She looks up surprised when she feels a hand in her own and sees LaFontaine has come over to comfort her. She smiles at them and then feels a burst of confidence, “I’m a witch.”  
“A witch?” Danny asks and then nods, “Cool.”  
“Witch? Like in Harry Potter?” Laura asks excitedly, “Can you cast spells? Do you have a wand? Do you have a flying broomstick? Wait, is that offensive? I’m sorry…I didn’t mean…er…I feel like I have foot in mouth syndrome sometimes, but I am just so excited.”   
Perry laughs and waves her off, “No, no, it’s fine. You have questions, that’s okay. I am a witch, yes, but not quite like Harry Potter. Think more hedgewitch and less Hogwarts. So no, I don’t have a wand, or a broom, or anything like that. Though I do have a cauldron. And yes, I can cast spells, but it’s a lot more complicated than you think.”  
“So, you can’t like poof hotty vampire chick…I mean Carmilla back here?” Kirsch asks.  
Perry shakes her head, “I would if I could. But there are a lot of…rules to this kind of stuff and I am not quite trained in the arts. I am a witch by birth, but there is a lot of training that goes into it, to do it right, and that is not something…it isn’t really something I wished to pursue much to my mother’s disappointment. I can do small things, I have a little training. And without that proper training it is forbidden to practice certain things and also incredibly dangerous.”  
“So it is kind of like Harry Potter and the Ministry of Magic, like you can’t use certain spells and whatnot.” Laura says and then blushes, “I mean…I guess not quite the same…sorry…you said witch and now all my brain can think about is Harry Potter. It’s a curse really…I mean…not a curse…I just…ugh…I can’t stop.”  
Perry laughs again, “It’s okay honey.” Perry then looks down at her feet again, looking sad, “You spoke of feeling useless before and I have to admit that I feel very useless. I have all this power and I can’t use it. My mother says I am a waste of potential.” She feels LaFontaine squeeze her hand in comfort.  
“Oh Perr, you’re not a waste of potential. We need you. I need you. And I like you just the way you are.” LaFontaine says.  
“I just feel as though, if I had trained, if I had listened to my mother I could have done more to protect this school, to protect my friends, to protect you.” She says and looks up at LaFontaine.  
LaFontaine leans in and holds her face in their hands, “Listen to me Perr. You don’t need to be some uber powerful witch to be useful, to be needed. We need you as you and no one else. I love you Lola, I love everything about you. So don’t think you have to change one iota. I don’t want you to ever think you’ve made a mistake by not choosing that life because we both know what that life would have done to you. It wasn’t for you and that’s okay. That’s more than okay. So please know you made the right choice being you? Okay?”  
Perry feels her eyes begin to water, “LaFontaine, you silver tongued charmer, you.”  
“Guilty as charged.” LaFontaine says with a small laugh.  
“How do you do that?” Perry asks, leaning her forehead in until their foreheads are touching.  
“Do what?” LaFontaine asks.  
“Make me feel better in just an instant?” Perry asks.  
“Cause I love you Perr.” LaFontaine says, “So I’ll do everything I can to do just that.”  
Laura feels a rush of emotion at their words. She feels warm and fuzzy inside, but also sad as well. She misses Carmilla, misses her more than anything right now. And suddenly all her worries come rushing back to her now. For a brief moment, she could watch LaFontaine and Perry and feel safe and happy, but it’s brief, and her fears for her girlfriend come crashing back into her hard.  
LaFontaine looks around the room and frowns, “Ah…we got through an entire gooey emotional moment without someone making a snarky comment or gagging noise. Which reminds me that I should get back to trying to find that power source so we can find Carmilla.”  
“Yes.” Laura nods, her voice a little choked.  
She feels an arm wrap around her shoulders and turns to see Perry there. “We’ll find her Laura. If anyone can do it, it’s my LaFontaine.” Perry says and Laura nods.  
“We’ll find our girl.” LaFontaine says, “Don’t worry.”  
Laura nods, “I just hope we find her in time.”


	46. First Dose

Carmilla wakes up with a pounding headache and groans. It takes her a few moments to realize where she is and why she has a headache in the first place. The makes her groan again, although the fact that she has a headache and her brain feels clearer means they haven’t changed the IV bag since she passed out.   
She opens her eyes slowly and finds the light stings quite a bit. She’s about to try and lift her head to take another look around the room when she hears footsteps and voices approaching. She quickly closes her eyes and lolls her head to the side to fake being unconscious just as the door swings open.   
She peaks her eyes open and spots two men dressed in white scrubs, with surgical masks over their faces enter the room. One of them is wheeling in a metal tray table with all kinds of instruments on it. She spots several sharp objects including some scalpels and other unpleasant looking devices. She wonders what those could be for and hopes they aren’t for her. She also notices a small vial filled with a strange liquid sitting on the tray table and the words, Phase 2, written across it in dark ink.  
She closes her eyes again as they turn and begin to speak.  
“...whether we’re ready for this.” One of the doctors says.  
“I know you have concerns, but we’ve refined the serum. You know this. Toned it down.” The other doctor says and she hears him moving some equipment around.  
“I don’t know.” The first doctor says sounding hesitant, “If it reacts like the others….”  
“It John? It?” The second doctor says, “I know they told us to distance ourselves, but it, really?”  
“Oh common, it’s not human. What do you want me to say Dan?” John says.  
“A dog isn’t human either, I still call my dog she.” Dan replies, “You could be a bit more sensitive.”  
“Says the guy who wants to just go ahead and inject her with the serum.” John says.  
“Don’t pretend that you’re hesitant because you care.” Dan counters.  
“Of course I care.” John says, “This specimen is unique and I don’t want to lose it. Plus, I do think we’re really helping these creatures.”  
“So do I. Why do you think I’m doing this?” Dan says, “Why do you think I think we’re ready for this?”  
“But you’re so cavalier.” John replies, “And we’ve lost several of the others. Creatures we could have integrated into society.”  
“Those were…unfortunate.” Dan says, “But science is messy, especially when you’re at the cutting edge. We’re doing groundbreaking work here. Just think John, if this works, if we succeed, we could win the noble prize.”  
“I suppose.” John says.  
“Come on, sound more enthusiastic.” Dan says, “We’re changing the world here.”  
“You’re such a loser.” John says with a laugh, “Alright, let’s get too it. First injection of three.”  
“Hand it over.” Dan says, “Check the time. We have to come back in approximately three hours to give the second injection otherwise it’ll start to wear off.”  
“I know, I know.” John says, “Okay, you ready?”  
Carmilla hears some more equipment adjustments and then someone moving something around on top of the tray. She hears the clinking of metal and the clicking of something else.   
“Ready. Check time.” Dan says.  
“Time is…2:23.” John says.  
“Alright, here we go. Making history.” Dan says, “Okay Patient Number 33, let’s do this.” Carmilla hears Dan take a step closer and her eyes fly open. She jerks upward to try and escape her restraints.  
“Whoa! Holy shit!” Dan shouts as he stumbles back.  
“Fuck! She’s awake!” John shouts.  
Carmilla strains against her restraints, but still feels weak and can’t quite seem to escape them. Her body is still rigid below the waist and even if she could get out, she wouldn’t be able to get anywhere.  
“Shit, shit, shit, drug her or something!” Dan shouts.  
John pulls out a syringe and goes to inject Carmilla in the leg.  
“You sons of bitches!” Carmilla snarls, “Don’t you dare! I’ll kill you both! I swear I will kill you if you touch me!”  
“Whoa, calm down sweet thing, calm down.” John says as he moves closer and Carmilla thrashes at him.  
“Don’t!” She shouts as he injects the syringe into her leg, “Don’t! Don’t!” In only takes a couple of seconds before she starts to feel woozy again. Her head swims, but she still tries to set one of them on fire. She focuses on John, the one who injected her with the syringe. It takes all her concentration, but a couple seconds later and suddenly the sleeve of his lab coat is one fire. He yelps and stumbles backward, waving his arm around as it blazes brightly.  
“Shit, shit, shit, shit shit.” Dan says as he goes to grab the lab coat off his colleague.  
John just goes, “AAHAAHAHAHAHAH!” Dan manages to grab the lab coat, rip it off his friend, and throw it to the ground. He stomps on it and after a few moments the fire is out.  
They’re both breathing hard and John is clutching his burnt arm to his chest. They both curse under their breath and Carmilla can’t help, but smile as she slowly sinks into unconsciousness.  
“Shit, this is dangerous work.” John says as he examines his arm.  
“Are you going to be okay?” Dan asks.  
“Yeah, only mild burns, I should be fine.” John replies.  
“Ready to do this then?” Dan asks.  
“Yep, let’s make this bitch one of us.” John says.  
“Okay then, check time.”  
“Time is…2:38.” John says.  
“Okay, injecting patient 33 with first dose of Phase 2 at 2:38 p.m.” Dan says and the last thing Carmilla feels is a needle being stuck into her arm and something flowing into her body before she blacks out once again.


	47. Taking Effect

LaFontaine and Perry’s room

“Okay, so I’ve narrowed it down to this quadrant of the campus.” LaFontaine says, “This area is using up a lot more energy than it should for no apparent reason.”  
“Quadrant?” Danny asks as she leans over LaFontaine’s shoulder, “That’s a least a square mile of land. We can’t search that entire area. At least not within our time constraint.”  
“Is there any way we can narrow it down further?” Gwen asks.  
LaFontaine shakes their head, “I can’t, I’m sorry. I mean, I could eventually, but once again, time constraint.”  
Gwen turns to Laura, “You’re one of them, right?” She then gets a stern look from Laura, “You know what I mean. You’ve infiltrated their ranks. You know stuff. Is there anything in this area that raises a red flag? Anything the mediators or the Dean has been keeping a secret?”  
Laura walks over and looks at the computer where a map of the section of campus is shown, “Hmm, those are the science buildings. Several of the labs have been taken over by the Dean and the mediators. They’re been doing experiments in there, but I don’t know what. But you know what, this, this might be what we’re looking for.” She points to the Lustig building.  
“The Lustig?” Danny asks, “Or well, the hole in the ground that used to be the Lustig, you think that’s where the power is coming from?”  
“I have seen mediators guarding the area, pretty much day and night.” Laura says, “I just assumed it was because it’s a center for supernatural activity and they want to make sure nothing else crawls out of there. But…”  
“But nobody goes there anymore.” Gwen says, “Everyone is afraid of it. Everyone avoids that area. So if you’re going to set up some kind of secret whatever, a place that everyone on campus is afraid of, might be your best bet.”  
“Yeah, exactly.” Laura says.  
“So I guess we’re going to go check it out.” LaFontaine says, “Why does it always come back to the Lustig.”  
“That or the Library.” Laura says, “It’s like groundhog day or something, we repeat the same thing over and over.”  
“One time, I’d like to have some kind of investigation in the food court or the café or something.” LaFontaine says.  
“Did you name two food places on purpose?” Danny asks.  
“I like food. Why do you not like food?” LaFontaine asks.  
“No, food is great.” Danny says with a laugh, “I would like to not have any kind of investigations to be honest though.”  
“That would be nice.” Gwen says and takes a hold of Danny’s hand smiling up at her, “We could actually be normal students and do normal things, like go to classes and parties and not worry about demonic bugs or evil overlord Deans. Wouldn’t’ that be something.”  
“Sounds kind of dull to be honest.” Laura says with a smirk, “I don’t know if I could go back to a normal life like that. I think I’m in too deep.”  
“Yeah, you’re in too deep because you dive in head first.” LaFontaine says with a laugh and the others join them, they laugh for a little while and then there is silence.  
“We should get back to work.” Danny says.  
“Yeah.” Gwen says, “Have to find fangface.”  
“I just hope she’s okay.” Perry says, “Where ever she is.”  
“You know Carmilla, she’s tough. She can handle herself.” LaFontaine says, “Alright, so the Lustig, Laura, do you know how many guards are normally posted to that area? We’re going to have to take them out and I have a nice knock out gas I’ve been working on that might just do the trick.”

Back wherever Carmilla is

Carmilla wakes up and immediately realizes something is different. She’s still kind of woozy, so she can’t quite place what that is just yet, but she knows something is off. For one, her chest hurts, it aches actually. It feels like someone is squeezing her and she needs to do something to stop it, she needs to let something out, release pressure or something. She opens her mouth and sucks in air, realizing that once again in a matter of only a few months she needs to breathe.  
She breathes long and deep for several moments, feeling anxiety build up in her. She starts to hyperventilate and her breathing feels awkward and out of control. She can’t seem to get a handle on it and that just makes her anxiety worse. It takes her several minutes of counting out her breathing before she can calm down enough to breathe normally. Once she gets the hang of it again, it soon becomes unconscious. Even after centuries of no breath, the body is quick to remember what it once needed and how to get it.  
Her stomach growls and she almost yelps at the sound because her stomach hasn’t growled in ages. She looks down at it as if something might burst from it, but nothing happens. She looks around the room and finds the room dimmer, duller, and slightly less focused. Her vision isn’t bad, it never was. As a human she had 20/20 vision, but as a vampire her eyes were sharper, everything was brighter with harsher lines and edges. She could spot movement form miles away, like an eagle. Now everything was slightly more blurry, like she was looking through a slightly distorted glass.   
She blinks a few times, but her vision remains the same and that irks her. It’s like she took off a pair of glasses that made her see crystal clear and now she can’t find them, so she has to stumble around with her new, worse vision.  
She looks around the room once more and notices her IV bag has been changed. It no longer is filled with blood, but instead a clear liquid, most likely a saline solution. She hopes this one isn’t also filled with drugs, though the fact that she’s awake makes her think it isn’t. Perhaps they don’t want anything mixing with whatever they injected in her.   
She’s still strapped down, but she finds that she can move her legs again. Not that this helps her. She strains against her restraints, but finds her body to be weak. She does hear the straps make a slight ripping noise and the table she’s on creek, so she knows not all her strength is gone, but she is significantly weaker than she was just hours ago. But just as trapped. She jerks up again, trying to pull with all her strength, but nothing happens. She tries to light the straps on fire, but nothing happens. She tries to transform into her panther form, but nothing happens. She is truly stuck and for the first time, in a long time, she feels a sense of dread wash over her.  
Her mind goes to darker places and darker times. It goes to another time she was trapped and she can feel that cold panic settle in once again, only this time manifesting more strongly in her partially transformed body. She feels her breathing quicken once again. Cold sweat drips down her face. She feels sick to her stomach and she can’t seem to keep her thoughts together.   
One thing she does notice is that her heart still doesn’t beat. It lies in her chest dormant, not making a sound. She’s more human than she’s been in over three hundred years and yet her heart still doesn’t make a peep.   
But this only distracts her momentarily as she remembers that she is stuck here, wherever here is, all alone. Her thoughts drift to Laura and she attempts to push her mind there. She knows that Laura is out there, looking for her right now. And she knows that Laura will stop at nothing to find her. It’s only a matter of time. The question is, when she does show up, what it is that she will find.


	48. Saved your asses

Laura is crouched behind the Engineering building with LaFontaine, Danny, and Kirsch crouched beside her. Gwen and Perry are back at the room, despite their protests. But eventually, after much argument, they agreed that it would be more difficult to sneak them in, especially if the organization had anti-supernatural defenses. And if they got caught, it would be much worse for them than the others. They weren’t happy about letting the others put themselves in danger, but they understood what had to be done.  
Laura hands over some earpieces to the others, “Courtesy of the Dean and my mediator brethren.”  
“Ooh, fancy tech.” LaFontaine says snagging one of the earpieces and sticking it in their ear, “We’ve upgraded from our traditional walkie talkies I see.”  
“How did you get these Laura?” Danny asks as she takes on and puts it in her ear, “I can’t imagine they just let you take them.”  
“I may have procured them…illicitly.” Laura says sheepishly, “But it’s not like they’re going to miss four earpieces when they have like a bazillion in the armory.”  
“You better hope not Hollis.” Danny says with a laugh, “Otherwise this’ll be over before it’s even started.”  
“So, what’s the plan again?” Kirsch asks.  
“Right, right, let’s go over this one last time.” Laura says, “LaF, you have the knockout gas right?”  
LaFontaine pulls out a small, metal cube from their bag, “Yep, right here.” They hand it over to Laura, “You just push the button on there, wait a few seconds, and it’ll release. But you have to be close, like real close, like within a couple of feet. And it takes like thirty seconds to take effect.”  
“And this is better than other knock out gas…how?” Danny asks.  
“One, you don’t have to be in a confined space for it to work. Two, it lasts hours. Three, it is non-toxic. And four, the only side effect is memory loss. Those poor bastards won’t remember a thing that happened to them about an hour prior to being knocked out.” LaFontaine says proudly.  
“Dude, that’s like creepy.” Kirsch says.  
LaFontaine looks offended, “What do you mean it’s creepy, it’s not creepy.”  
“It’s a little creepy.” Danny says with a shrug, “But it serves our purposes for now. Just make sure none of that stuff ever ends up in the wrong hands.”  
“Okay, so I take this, press the button when I’m near them, and what? Wait for it to take effect.” Laura says.  
“Yeah.” LaFontaine says, “Like I said before, you’ll need to be close. It’ll be better if you hold it in your hand and direct it at them, like you’re spraying them with perfume…almost. I mean you don’t want them to see it and react, so maybe like palm it.”  
“Okay, so they conk out, then Danny and Kirsch come over and drag them away, and change into their uniforms. Then the three of us head down into the Lustig, take out whoever else is in there, and once the coast is clear, we call you in.” Laura says to LaFontaine, “Then you work your tech wizard magic, shut down the system, and bing, bang, boom, we find Carmilla.”  
“You make it sound easy.” LaFontaine says.  
“It should be easy…hopefully.” Laura says, “I just don’t know how many mediators are down there or what kind of security they might have.”  
“Well, I guess we’ll find out.” Kirsch says with a grin.  
“Sure will.” Laura replies grinning back.   
“Okay, you said the gas lasts hours, how many hours? How long do we have?” Danny asks LaFontaine.  
“At least four.” LaFontaine says, “Probably longer. I was out for about six.”  
“You were out?” Laura asks looking surprised.  
“I…er…uh…accidentally tested in on myself.” LaFontaine says, “And Perry.”  
“LaF!” Laura says slapping their arm lightly, “What she say?”  
“Well, she wasn’t too happy about missing classes.” LaFontaine says, “But she said she never felt more rested, so…silver lining I guess?”  
“Dude, you gotta like be more careful with your experiments and stuff.” Kirsch says, “Those hand warmers you gave me last semester nearly gave me second degree burns.” He holds up his hands to show fading scars.  
“Okay, I’m sorry about the hand warmers, they needed some… tweaking, and sure sometimes my experiments go…awry.” LaFontaine says.  
“Read as, explodes.” Danny says.  
“Yes, fine, they have a tendency to explode.” LaFontaine says.  
“Or start fires, don’t forget the fires.” Laura adds.  
“Fine! They also start fires!” LaFontaine continues, “But let me remind you all that without my experimenting we wouldn’t be alive today. I’ve saved all your asses.”  
“That is true.” Kirsch says, “You and Gwen saved my bacon last semester.”  
“And that flame thrower has come in handy more than once.” Laura says.  
“And the super magnet stopped those golems.” Danny says.  
“See, so while things may go a bit hinky at times, for the most part, I do good.” LaFontaine say.  
“Yes you do.” Laura says, “It’d be better if you started less fires and didn’t cause the entire dorm to be evacuated on a regular basis, but it’s something I suppose I can live with considering how often you’ve saved our lives.”  
“Thank you.” LaFontaine says, “Okay, so ready to go?” They ask Laura.  
Laura nods, “Ready.” She stands up and then LaFontaine grabs her arm.  
“Wait!” LaFontaine says and then sprays something across Laura’s face, “I almost forgot this.”  
Laura coughs and wheezes for several moments, “What the hell Laf?!”  
“The invisible mask.” LaFontaine explains, “Remember? Can’t have you knocking yourself out.”  
“Right, right.” Laura says and coughs again, “Ugh, I think I breathed some of it in. That’s not going to have any side effects is it?”  
“Uh…no…I don’t think so.” LaFontaine says.  
“Way to be reassuring.” Laura says and coughs once more, “How long does the mask last?”  
“Fifteen minutes.” LaFontaine says, “So get to it before it wears off.”  
Laura coughs again, “Okay, ugh, I’m totally going to get throat cancer. Let’s do this.” She then straightens up, brushes off any dust from her gray mediator uniform, and makes her way towards the two guards standing in front of the entrance to the crater that used to be the Lustig.

Wherever Carmilla is

Carmilla has been working at the straps on her bed for an hour now with only minimal success. At first she continually tried to yank at them to see if with repeated tension she could make them snap. But she found that was getting her nowhere. They were made of some kind of reinforced material, maybe carbon fiber or something, so that not even she could yank them apart.  
The straps themselves were tight around her wrists and ankles, but they didn’t force her down onto the bed. Instead they were loose enough that she could move her arms around a bit and sit up with little difficulty. Though she wasn’t leaving the bed anytime soon.  
She looks at the black straps and sees that they lead to underneath the bed she’s on. Most likely they are bolted to the underside of her bed. She reaches under the bed to feel around and finds where the bolt attaches to the strap. If she had her full strength she could probably rip the bolt out with her fingers.   
She wraps her fingers around the bolt and attempts to turn it, trying to loosen it. But it’s held fast. She twists with all her might, straining against the metal between her fingers, but after several seconds she releases it. She knows that won’t get her anywhere.   
She thinks that maybe she can rub the material of the strap up against the edge of the nut and bolt and perhaps over time the straps will fray. So she proceeds to do that for a while, but after an hour of that she finds she’s barely made any progress. She knows she could probably do it over several days, but she doesn’t want to be here several days. Who knows what they’ll do to her in that time.   
So she has to figure out another plan. She remembers seeing several sharp objects, including a scalpel on the tray table the doctors brought in the last time they were here. If she could somehow get her hands on that, she could cut herself loose. But the question becomes, how does she get her hands on it? She knows the doctors will be back soon. She has to figure something out before then.


	49. Into the depths

“Aren’t you a little short to be a mediator?” Laura comments with a smirk to Danny as Danny and Kirsch approach in the uniforms they stole from the now snoozing guards. Kirsch’s fits him rather well and he doesn’t look too out of sorts in it. Danny’s on the other hand is several inches too short. The pants are floods, the sleeves only come two thirds of the way down her arms, and the whole thing looks too tight. She looks rather uncomfortable and Laura notices she isn’t even wearing the official black boots of the mediator, but instead her own shoes  
“Excuse me?” Danny asks confused, “Did the word short come out of your mouth directed at me? Cause I hate to break it to you Hollis, but there is no scenario where you calling me short makes any kind of sense.”  
Laura laughs and shakes her head, “No, sorry, it’s a star wars reference. You know, when Luke and Han impersonate storm troopers to free Leia. And the uniforms don’t quite fit them correctly and Leia can immediately tell something is off, cause they’re too short. You know?”  
Danny looks at her blankly, “What?”  
“You have seen star wars? Right?” Laura asks.  
“Uh…sorry Laura, I have not.” Danny says.  
Laura clutches her chest in mock pain, “Uch, Danny, how could you!?”  
Danny laughs, “You act like I killed your cat or something.”  
“You may as well have.” Laura replies.  
“Come on, they’re just movies.” Danny says.  
“Just movies? Just movies?” Laura repeats, her voice getting higher in pitch, “How can you…I can’t…you don’t…I just…Kirsch, you’ve seen star wars right?”  
“Of course, bro.” Kirsch says.  
“Explain to Danny why they’re not just movies.” Laura says.  
“Cause their bitchin.” Kirsch says.  
Laura nods as if that’s the most perfect answer, “Cause their bitchin.”  
There’s a crackling noise and LaFontaine can be heard through their earpieces, “They’re totally bitchin’.”   
Danny laughs again, “Fine, fine, when this is all done with, I’ll sit down and watch them. How’s that?”  
“I’ll hold you to that Lawrence.” Laura threatens and Danny laughs again. Laura just shakes her head as they head towards the entrance of the pit and mutters to herself, “How do you get to be twenty something years old and never have seen star wars? It just isn’t right.”  
The entrance to what was once the Lustig, but now is just a giant hole in the ground, is part of the outer wall of the building and the space where a door once stood. That’s it, just crumbling brick barely still standing and a hole in that brick with no door. It reminds Laura of ancient ruins, where parts of a building still stand and you can see where the building once stood, but not much of it remains. Except these aren’t ancient ruins. A building stood here not too long ago. But now it’s little more than rubble.   
They approach the doorway and look down into the pit. Its pitch black except for the small glowing lights stuck to the wall near a recently constructed wooden staircase. The staircase wraps around the edge of the pit and descends down into the darkness. They can see the lights go down aways before they become as small as pinpricks and then disappear altogether. They can’t see the bottom and Laura is only slightly disappointed that the lights aren’t torches. But she figures a high tech organization like the one running the school wouldn’t be using old fashioned torches to light their pathway down into the pit. Still, when she pictured herself venturing into the cavernous pit, she imagined more an Indian Jones theme and less nighttime highway construction, but it would have to do.  
“That’s a long way down.” Laura comments, “Did we really travel that far down last time?”  
“It looks deeper.” Danny says.  
“How deep do you think it is?” Kirsch asks.  
“I don’t know. Half a mile? Maybe more?” Danny offers.  
“Can you see the bottom?” Laura asks as she peers over the edge and they both shake their heads. Kirsch pulls something from his confiscated belt and looks about ready to chuck it down. Danny quickly grabs his arm.  
“What?” He asks.  
“Do you want to alert everyone down there we’re coming? Don’t pull a Pippin.” Danny snaps.  
“Oh, so Lord of the Rings you’ve seen, but not Star Wars.” Laura says shaking her head, “I suppose that’s something.”  
“My apparent gaps in nerdom aside, we can’t just start chucking things down the hole.” Danny says.  
“I just wanted to see how deep it goes.” Kirsch says with a pout as he puts away what appears to be a glow stick, “Can I at least throw a rock?”  
“No, don’t throw anything.” Danny says, “There could be people down there. We don’t want to kill anyone, right?”  
“I don’t know, I’m kind of okay with killing the people who kidnapped my girlfriend all of a sudden.” Laura says, “You’d think I wouldn’t be, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to care. I’d probably be okay with killing all of them if it meant getting Carmilla back.”  
Danny looks at Laura concerned, “Oookaaay, on that terrifying note why don’t we venture into the blackness as dark as Laura’s heart is becoming.”  
Laura glares at her, “Ouch, that hurt.”  
“You’re the one that said you were okay with mass murder.” Danny throws back at her as she steps out onto the wooden platform. The other two follow.  
“Only to protect the ones I love.” Laura counters, pauses as she realizes what she’s just said and then shakes her head, “Crapsticks, I can’t be okay with that. Then I’m no different than the people we’re trying to fight. I mean they’re trying to do the same thing, right? Protect the people they care about? They’re just going about it in the wrong way. We can’t be like them. I can’t be like them.” The three begin their trek down the staircase and into the pit.  
“I think the fact that you realize that, means you’re probably good. The moment you stop, then we’re all in trouble.” Danny says.  
“You’re like our heart Laura.” Kirsch says, “We’d follow you pretty much anywhere.”  
Laura feels herself tearing up at the sentiment, “Thanks you guys. I mean, that’s a little terrifying to be honest, to have people willing to follow you into battle, to even die for you. That’s like majorly terrifying. But I appreciate it, I honestly truly do.”  
There’s a crackling in their earpieces and LaFontaine speaks, “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.”  
Laura just rolls her eyes and then laughs, “You see, we were having a moment here or something and then you had to go and ruin it LaF.”  
“You guys were being so serious.” LaFontaine says, “Lighten up. I mean it’s not like we have the fate of the campus in our hands or anything.”   
They all laugh this time and Laura says, “Okay, okay Laf, we get it, serious talk over. Now on to serious business. Let’s hope the power source is at the bottom of this abyss because I do not fancy walking back up empty handed.”  
It takes them just under an hour to get all the way down to the bottom. The whole way down the three of them are on edge, at the ready, expecting an attack of some kind. But nothing happens. The walk is rather uneventful, which just puts them more on edge. Laura’s heart is racing and there is sweat dripping off her forehead that has nothing to do with the heat.   
Laura likens it to horror movies or video games, where nothing happens for most of it. It’s just waiting and watching and expecting something to happen. The anticipation is the worst part. Laura feels like she’d almost rather be fighting as opposed to waiting to fight because at least then she’d be doing something and not thinking about all the ways this could go wrong.  
But they reach the bottom with no trouble. They look around and find themselves in a small cave, which looks partially natural, partially carved out. There are three tunnels leading away from the chamber they’re in, none of which look man made, but instead naturally formed.   
But still they don’t see anyone.  
Danny seems to be thinking along the same lines as Laura was before as she says, “That was…easy.”  
“Like, where are all the guards?” Kirsch asks, “Shouldn’t there be guards or something? Are we in the wrong place?”  
“Were there three tunnels before? I don’t remember there being three entrances.” Laura says and looks around at the camber, “Actually, I don’t remember any of this. Wasn’t this just one giant cavern?”  
Danny and Kirsch look around and both nod in agreement.  
“Maybe some of the walls collapsed and then they built this from what remained?” Danny suggests.  
Laura walks over to one of the tunnels and runs her hand along the wall which is curved, “This looks natural.” She looks at the floor and ceiling which are also curved, “This is very…round.”  
“Maybe they like drilled through?” Kirsch asks.  
Laura nods, still studying the walls, “I don’t know. But we should keep going. LaF, any idea which way we should go?”  
LaFontaine speaks over their headsets, “Not a clue, sorry. I’m trying to narrow it down by reading the energy signatures, but the whole place is a jumble.”  
“So…what? Eenie, meenie, minie…” Laura begins, but is interrupted when she hears a rumbling sound coming from the far left passageway. The rumbling continues for several moments and Laura ducks her head as small pieces of rock are shaken loose from the ceiling. The rumbling stops and the three look at one another.  
“So…what was that?” Danny asks.  
LaFontaine speaks, “Um…there was a slight tremor up here. Is everything okay down there?”  
“There was like a minor earthquake are something.” Kirsch says over the headset.  
“It came from this tunnel.” Laura says motioning towards the left tunnel and then beginning to walk towards it.  
A large hand clamps down on her shoulder and she can hear Danny’s exasperated voice, “What are you doing!?”  
Laura turns around to look at her with a confused face, “Uh…heading that way.” She points towards the tunnel.  
Danny rolls her eyes and then puts a hand to her face, “Laura, you want to head down the tunnel where the earthquake came from?”  
“Minor earthquake.” Laura corrects with a smirk and Danny rolls her eyes again.  
“You’re insane.” Danny says.  
“Says the girl who charges headlong at supernatural creatures all the time.” Laura counters.  
“That’s different. That is necessary danger. This is unnecessary danger.” Danny says.  
Laura scowls, “It’s not. We have no clue which tunnel to go down. For all we know these tunnels could stretch for miles and we don’t have the time to search them all. We are looking for a source of massive energy output, possibly supernatural. That tunnel…” She points to it, “is now showing signs of having something like that. It’s our only clue and we don’t really have time to deliberate about it. We have to make a decision and soon. And my choice, is the one that is showing signs of activity.”  
Danny frowns and shakes her head, but doesn’t say anything. Both Kirsch and LaFontaine are quiet.  
Danny finally sighs, “Fine. But if you die, I am not the one who has to tell Elvira.”  
Laura smirks and hugs Danny quickly, “Deal! Alright, let’s go.” She then begins to march down the ominous, previously shaking tunnel with a reluctant Danny and a somewhat nervous Kirsch in tow.


	50. Second Dose

Laura, Danny, and Kirsch walk down the tunnel in the crater of what used to be the Lustig. Despite the fact that the walls don’t look man-made, there continues to be electric lights at regular intervals, lighting their way. Though what their powered by, Laura isn’t sure as they don’t have any wires, cables, or any other connections attached to them.   
The lights are bright enough to see fairly well, but they cast menacing shadows across the uneven surfaces of the walls, ceiling, and floors. Leaving Laura with the sensation that she is being watched. And once again, Laura notes that there doesn’t appear to be any guards or security anywhere, which puts her even more on edge.  
Every once in a while, the tunnel changes from the naturally carved rock, to a more man-made looking structure with wooden beams and frame supporting the rock above and a flatter, concrete floor below. This would only last for a couple of yards before switching back to the more rounded tunnel.  
Also, every once in a while they’d hear the rumbling again and one time Laura was certain she heard an animalistic shriek, but it was cut off quickly. The farther they traveled into the tunnel, the more frequent the shaking became and the closer it seemed to be.  
After a particularly nasty quake, where they had to lean against the walls to not fall over Danny looks over at Laura and says, “If that continues, we’re going to get shaken to death.”  
“We can’t go back now. The fact that its getting worse means we’re getting closer.” Laura says.  
“Oh, so you want to walk into the trap.” Danny says, “Is that what you’re saying?”  
“No, I’m just saying, we’re headed the right way. I can feel it in my gut.” Laura says, “We have to keep going.”  
Danny sighs and looks at Kirsch, “What do you think?”  
Kirsch shrugs, “I don’t know. I mean, it’s just shaking. Nothing like attacking us or anything. There’s no guards or creatures or anything like that. I think we should….”  
He gets cut off as the largest quake yet hits them, causing the whole tunnel to shake and making them loose their footing. The rumbling gets louder and louder and then dust and rock begins to fall.   
“I think the tunnel is collapsing!” Danny shouts and moves to run back the way they came, “We have to get out of here!”  
Laura on the other hand runs forward, as it seems like it’s only the area right above them that is about to collapse. Danny looks back to see Laura running in the opposite direction.  
“Laura!” She shouts, “What are you doing!”  
“We have to keep going!” Laura shouts, “We have to save Carmilla!”  
Kirsch on the other hand is unsure of which way to go. With Danny going one way and Laura running off in the other, he remains indecisive and thus frozen in his spot. Danny sees that the area right above Kirsch looks about ready to fall down on top of him and begins to sprint towards him.  
“Kirsch! You moron! Move!” Danny says, but Kirsch is now panicked and doesn’t know where to go. Danny charges at him and slams into him full force tackling him. They both roll along the ground just as the tunnel collapses right where he stood moments before, blocking their exit.  
But even worse than that, a massive purple wurm comes slithering out of a newly formed hole in the ceiling. It opens its huge jaws revealing many, many lines of teeth, and lets out a deep bellow.  
Laura whips around to spot the creature moving in on Danny and Kirsch who are attempting to scramble to their feet.  
“Holy Shai-Hulud!” Laura shouts as she runs back towards them.  
Danny gets to her feet first and drags Kirsch to his. They fling themselves to the side though as the wurm dives towards them. It misses and then burrows down into the earth, disappearing in a cloud of rock and dust.   
Danny and Kirsch get to their feet once more as Laura runs up to them.  
“Are you guys okay?” Laura asks as she helps them get up.  
Danny brushes her off though and snaps, “What in the hell were you thinking?”  
Laura looks taken aback, “What?”  
“You almost got us killed! And now, we’re trapped in this god-forsaken tunnel with that monstrosity!” Danny shouts at her, gesturing towards the collapsed tunnel behind them.  
“We’re not trapped.” Laura says and gestures ahead, “We can still go this way.”  
“Oh good, just like you wanted.” Danny says, “And you always get what you want, don’t you?”  
Laura scowls now, “What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“It means, you just do whatever you want, whatever you think is right, without any regard for the rest of us.” Danny says, “I told you this was dangerous. I said we should go back. But you ignored me. You pushed forward. And now look where we are. Kirsch almost died. I almost died. And we still have that thing out there, waiting to strike at any moment.”  
“I didn’t make you come here Danny.” Laura snaps back, “I didn’t force you down this tunnel. You didn’t have to put yourself in danger. You could have left at any time…well except for now, but you know what I mean.”  
“And what? You’d think I’d just let you go by yourself? I’m your friend Laura! I’m not going to just let you throw yourself into danger alone!” Danny says, “But you have the habit of throwing yourself into all kinds of danger, without thinking about who’s next to you.”  
“Yes, sure, I put myself in danger a lot. And sure, I went down this tunnel and went this way. And sure, I want to get Carmilla back. I’d nearly do anything to get her back. But do you really think I don’t think about you guys every day, my friends every day and worry about the kind of danger we’re in? Do you really think I’d put you in unnecessary danger just to get my girlfriend back?” Laura asks.  
Danny shakes her head, “I don’t know. All I know is that as our leader, you need to start thinking about everyone else, not just you and Carmilla.”   
Laura looks hurt, “Excuse me? Almost everything I do is for you guys. Sure, right here, right now, this is about Carmilla. But do you know why? Because she put her life on the line to help you and me and this campus! Everything I do is for everyone else! I don’t do this for myself! I don’t do this for Carmilla! I do this because no one else will! I do this because I have to, because it’s the right thing to do! I do this for you and LaFontaine and for Perry and Kirsch and Gwen, and all the other students of this campus! Every minute, of every day, of my life for the past year and a half has been spent thinking about others, doing things for others, making sure others are okay, making sure others are safe! So I’m sorry if what I do is dangerous. I’m sorry that I sometimes make snap judgments that might put us in harm’s way. I’m sorry about all the monsters and demons and humans that have made our lives more difficult. But this is our life, this is what we do, what we have been doing and what I will continue to do. And if you want to leave, if you don’t want to do this, that’s fine. You can leave whenever you want. I would never ask you to do something you didn’t want to do. I would never want to force you to put yourself in danger. But I will not apologize for caring. I will not apologize for fighting. And I will not apologize for trying to make this campus a better place. And if you think that I do all this just for myself, than Danny Lawrence, you don’t know me at all.”   
Laura then turns on her heal and stomps away.  
There’s a crackling as the headset comes to life and LaFontaine says, “You just got rekted.”  
“Shut up!” Danny snaps and trudges after Laura, Kirsch nervously following on her heels. 

 

Wherever Carmilla is

Carmilla has a plan. It isn’t exactly a great plan, but at least it’s a plan. She knows the doctors will be coming back in shortly to give her, her second injection of Phase 2. She can’t really stop them from doing that. But she knows that on the tray they brought in last time was all manner of sharp objects. If she can just get her hands on one of them somehow, she may be able to cut herself loose.  
She hears the sound of muffled voices and footsteps a moment later. This time she doesn’t pretend to be unconscious, but instead stares at the door intently.  
The door opens and the two doctors, John and Dan, step inside. John steps in first and jumps as he sees her eyes intensely fixed upon him. He clutches his head to his chest and gets a raised eyebrow from Dan who looks to see her awake.  
“What?” Dan asks as he wheels in the tray table. Carmilla notes the scalpels, scissors, and other sharp objects upon it.   
“I swear, I thought it was going to light me on fire again.” John says, shaking his head and calming himself.  
“I would if I could.” Carmilla snarls.  
Dan looks over at her interested and then pulls out a notebook and pen while simultaneously closing the door with his foot.  
“Are you saying you’ve lost your pyrokinetic ability?” He begins to scribble down notes and looks up, waiting for an answer, but she doesn’t reply.  
Dan rolls his eyes and sighs, “Things will go a lot better for you if you cooperate.”  
“What are you going to do? You can’t knock me out otherwise you would have already.” Carmilla says.  
John frowns and then reaches for a scalpel on tray table, “You think these are just for show?” He brings the scalpel over to the bottom of her bare foot and lightly presses the tip into the sole, not enough to cut through her skin, but enough for her to feel the cold, sharp metal, “We have scientific work that needs to be done. Work that involves amongst other things, cutting and scraping, and all manner of potentially torturous activity. Now this work can be done quickly and efficiently with as little pain as possible or it can be long and drawn out and rather unpleasant. It’s your choice.”  
When Carmilla doesn’t say anything he presses harder on her foot and drags the scalpel up about an inch, slicing through the flesh and causing her to bleed. Carmilla winces and recoils, feeling the sharp sting of pain more acutely than she would have as a vampire. The cut is narrow, shallow, and bleeds very little, but it gets his point across.  
“She is bleeding in a slightly sluggish manner.” John says and observes the bleeding wound, “It appears to be half the speed of a normal human.” He pulls out a gauze pad and wipes her foot clean examining the blood, “We’ll have to do more tests once we draw blood, but on initial observation the blood appears brighter, more oxygenated.” As John says all this, Dan writes it all down in his notebook.  
John then looks up and says, “Now, will you cooperate?” Carmilla doesn’t answer, just glares at him and John sighs, pressing the scalpel to her foot once again, but not cutting, “I need a verbal answer.”  
Through gritted teeth Carmilla grunts out a, “Yes.”  
John draws the scalpel away from her foot and smiles, but it isn’t a friendly smile, “Good, good.”  
“Alright Patient 33…” Dan begins, but Carmilla cuts him off.  
“Carmilla.” Carmilla snarls.  
“What?” Dan asks.  
“My name is Carmilla.” Carmilla says.  
“Here you are Patient 33.” John says from near her feet.  
Dan nods and continues, “Patient 33. We will be running a series of tests on you to see how your transition has progressed. We do have to perform some invasive testing. Unfortunately, we cannot use any anesthetic because we don’t know what kind of effect they will have on our serum. So some of our procedures may be…painful. But as Dr. Wright said, if you cooperate, we’ll make this as quick and painless as we possibly can.”  
“Now, we need to extract a tissue sample.” John says and picks up what appears to be some kind of drill tool.  
Carmilla gulps and feels panic wash over her once more. It has been a long time since she has felt quite this helpless and quite this exposed.  
An hour later, the two doctors have finished their examinations and asked their questions. They have poked and prodded at her. They have taken blood, tissue samples, hair, and other things from her. They have measured her breaths, her eyesight, and her hearing.   
After asking about her abilities Dan scribbles something down and then closes his notebook and puts it away.  
“Okay, get up.” John says.  
“I’m strapped to the table.” Carmilla says.  
“Sit up.” John snaps and Carmilla does so with some difficulty. He then reaches into his lab coat pocket and pulls out a silver metal band. He leans forward and snaps the metal band around Carmilla’s neck. The band heats up slightly and Carmilla can hear a soft hum coming from it.   
John then begins to undo the straps around Carmilla’s ankles and wrists, speaking as he does so, “We need to take you to the exercise room to do more tests. But don’t even think about trying to escape. The collar around your neck is hooked up to a remote control that Dr. Peterson has. If you do not cooperate, if you misbehave in any way, he will trigger the collar and…well it’ll be very painful, let’s just put it that way. And if you’re wondering why we didn’t just use the collar before, well, long term usage can have…adverse side effects. So we only use it in short intervals. Now come on.” He waves her towards the door and the two doctors move to leave.  
Carmilla spies the tray table, still with all manner of sharp objects on it. Perhaps instead of cutting her way free, she could stab Dr. Peterson from behind before he could use the remote. She could then take out Dr. Wright and then get away. But then, she doubts she could get the collar off and she wasn’t completely sure in her weakened state that she could get to Dr. Peterson before he used it on her.  
Instead, she surreptitiously grabbed a scalpel and quickly slid it under the sheets of her bed, hoping that when she returned it would still be there. She then followed reluctantly behind the two doctors, who shoved her out the door in front of them and led her down the hall to the exercise room.   
After testing her strength, speed, endurance, and resilience they found that all of them had nearly be cut in half. Where once she could lift more than 350 kg, she could now only lift 175. Her speed had dropped to 80 km/hr and her endurance her resilience were equally diminished. And while these were still incredibly impressive numbers, still superhuman numbers, especially for someone of her size and musculature, for Carmilla she felt weak and fragile.  
And when they brought her back to the room and strapped her back down to the bed, removing he collar in the process, she knew it was only going to get worse.   
Dan drew a syringe full of the Phase 2 serum, looked to John who was looking at his watch, “Ready?”   
“Ready.” John says.  
“Check time.” Dan says.  
“Time is 5:40 p.m.” John says.  
“Okay, injecting patient 33 with second dose of Phase 2 at 5:40 p.m. Dan says and injects the serum into Carmilla’s arm. Almost immediately Carmilla feels the effects and a wave of tiredness hits her. She feels the scalpel under the sheets, pressed up against her lower back and knows that even with the serum coursing through her, she will escape this place. And she will make the organization pay.


	51. From Beneath you, it devours

In the tunnels beneath the remains of the Lustig

The trio makes their way in awkward silence farther into the tunnels. They walk for about fifteen minutes before they hear the rumbling again. It sounds like a freight train coming at them and they know the wurm creature must be making another appearance.  
“Run!” Laura shouts and they begin a mad dash down the tunnel, not knowing if they can even escape the creature.  
There’s a cracking and smashing noise and dust flies through the tunnel, obscuring their view somewhat as the wurm bursts into the hall behind them. It lets out a screech and then burrows down into the earth again.   
The three continue to run until Danny feels something moving beneath her feet. She stops Kirsch with an arm and yanks Laura back by her shirt.   
“What are you…” Laura begins, but stops as the wurm comes surging through the earth right in front of them. They take several steps back as the wurm writhes and snaps at them.  
Laura grabs a large rock and hurls it at the creature. The creature reels back in pain and then rushes forward forcing Laura to stumble back, lose her footing, and sprawl across the dirt. She scrambles backward, kicking out at swirling razor sharp teeth, trying to get away from the horrifying maw.   
Kirsch leaps forward and strikes out with a stun baton from his belt, right to the wurm’s mouth as Danny grabs Laura underneath the arms and drags her away.  
The three of them step backward out of reach of the flailing giant wurm monster. It takes a few more snaps at them and then disappears back into the dirt.  
“We can’t keep doing this.” Danny says, “We have to figure out how to get rid of this thing. LaF, got any answers?”  
“I would if I knew what the heck was going on.” LaF says.  
“We’re being attacked by a giant worm with razor sharp teeth!” Laura says.  
“It keeps popping out at us and it’s totally not cool.” Kirsch says as he warily eyes the walls and floor around him.   
“Wait, wait, wait….the purple wurms beneath the school are…attacking you?” LaFontaine says, “Huh.”  
“Huh? What’s huh? And how did you know it was purple?” Laura asks.  
“Errr….because I’ve encountered them before.” LaFontaine says.  
“You have? Why didn’t you say anything!” Laura shouts.  
“Them? Did you just say them?” Danny asks, “As in more than one?”  
“Eww, dude, I feel like they’re all over me now.” Kirsch says as he begins to hop around.  
“They’re all over the underground tunnels of the school, but they’re not aggressive…usually. I’ve never had any problem with them before.” LaFontaine says.  
“Well, they’re attacking us now.” Danny says.  
“You should have said something!” Laura says.  
“They’re friendly! Really! Like big, dopey worm dog things normally. I’ve never seen them attack anyone.” LaFontaine says.  
“Well this one seems pretty agitated.” Laura says, “Maybe it’s rapid or sick or something?”  
“Maybe…” LaFontaine says trailing off, but doesn’t seem convinced.  
“So….what do we do?” Kirsch asks and the other two shrug.  
“Is there anything on your guys’ belts that might help?” LaFontaine asks.  
Laura looks down at her belt, “Hmm, the stun baton seemed to have some effect, though not much. I imagine a taser would be the same. This here is for vampires.” She points to one belt pouch, “Some of those darts. Nonlethal…I think. This one is for werewolves. This one for fairies. This one for elementals. This one for zombies. This one is supposed to help against extradimensional beings. And then we just some general tranquilizers. Those might do the trick.” She pulls out some of those darts and loads it into the dart gun.  
Danny grunts and says, “Well, we have to keep going that way.” Pointing in the direction they were headed, “And hope that there is another way out of here than the way we came.”  
“But dude, the monster is that way.” Kirsch says.  
“Do you have a better idea?” Danny asks and he shakes his head.  
“So, we just like, keep going along?” Kirsch asks, “Cause I was kind of hoping maybe we could figure out some way to stop that thing besides like…shooting it with some tranzquilizers.  
“Do you have any suggestions?” Danny asks now annoyed.  
Kirsch pauses and thinks, “Um…no, not really.”  
“Then shut up and let’s keep moving.” Danny snaps, “The sooner we find what’s powering the force field, the sooner we get out of this damn place.” She then begins to march back down the tunnel. She leaps over the hole the wurm made into the ground and keeps moving.  
“Is she mad at me or something?” Kirsch asks, looking to Laura confused.  
Laura frowns and shakes her head, “I don’t think so Kirsch, I think she’s just mad at me.”  
“Oh.” Kirsch says as they begin to walk and nods his head. He then helps Laura over the hole and then leaps across himself.  
Laura is silent for a few moments and then asks him, “Do you think I’m selfish?”  
Kirsch looks at her confused again, “Is this about what you and Danny were talking about before?”  
Laura shrugs, “I just…I always thought it was clear that what I was doing was for everyone else, but now both Carmilla and Danny have sort of mentioned me being a bit…self-centered. Like this is all about pride or feeling heroic or something like that. And I guess it has me thinking.”  
“I think you’re selfish.” Kirsch says and then waves his hands as Laura looks hurt, “No, hold on. I think we’re all a bit selfish, every one of us. But do I think you’re a selfish person at heart? Do I think you’re like, doing all this because you want the cheering and clapping or the thank yous or whatever, the erm…accolades…that’s the word? No, I don’t think that bro. You’re one of the most not selfish people I know.” He wraps an arm around her and gives her a short squeeze.  
“Thanks Kirsch.” Laura says with a sigh, feeling slightly better.  
“I think D-Bear is just stressed with everything going on. I mean, you were gone for a long time.” Kirsch says, “And we were all, you know, super worried about you.”  
“Yeah, I kind of screwed up big time with that one, didn’t I?” Laura asks with a shrug, “Do you think they’ll ever forgive me?”  
Kirsch gives a shrug back, “I don’t know, probably.” He then smiles at her, “It’ll be fine little Laura, promise.”  
Laura nods and looks up at Danny marching along a few paces ahead, “I hope so.”  
The trio walks for another fifteen minutes before they hear the rumbling again.  
“For fuck’s sake.” Danny says as they all stop, tense and at the ready, “LaF, you got any way to stop this thing?”  
“Err….I’m looking, give me a minute.” LaFontaine says over the radio.  
“I’m not sure we have a minute.” Laura says as she looks around the tunnel.  
“Where is it coming from?” Kirsch asks, “It totally sounds like its coming from all over.”  
“It sounds like its coming from behind us.” Danny says whipping around and then her eyes go wide as several large worms pop up out of the ground behind them, bursting from the floor, the walls, even the ceiling. They leap out of the ground, some falling to the floor, some slithering around, and some burrowing back under as they charge at the group.  
“Oh shit.” Kirsch says.  
Laura turns and fires her darts at the wurms. Most of the darts hit their mark, but they barely seem to slow the wurms down. And there are far too many of them to take out.  
“RUN!” Laura shouts and if they thought they had been sprinting before, well they were dead wrong, as their mad dash away from the torrent of giant worm monsters was twice as fast and ten times as desperate.  
“LAF….LAF…” Laura shouts as she gasps for air into her radio, “LAF! They…are…all…chasing…us….”  
“Not dangerous my ass!” Danny shouts.  
“What do you mean all?” LaFontaine asks.  
“All!” Laura shouts, “Like…thirty…of…them!”  
“Oh fuck.” LaFontaine says, “This shouldn’t be happening. This should most definitely not be happening. Hold on!”  
“Hold on! Hold on! Fuck! LAFONTAINE! You cannot just tell us to hold on!” Laura shouts.  
“We’re so dead, we’re so dead, we’re so dead.” Kirsch chants to himself over and over.  
“Will you shut up!” Danny shouts.

 

Back in Perry and LaFontaine’s room, where Perry and Gwen have been spending their day.

The two have been working on the next event for their club, but both are rather anxious as they’d prefer to be out helping find Carmilla or figuring out what Phase 2 is or any of the number of other questions that need to be answered.  
“You ever think about what’d you do in the event of a zombie apocalypse?” Gwen asks, breaking the rather long, tense silence the two had.  
Perry looks up from her worksheets and files, startled for a moment.  
“Hmm?” She asks.  
“Zombie apocalypse? You ever think about how you’d handle that?” Gwen asks.  
“Seeing as Silas has a small zombie population, a zombie apocalypse as you put it, is a very real possibility.” Perry says.  
“What? Really?” Gwen asks, a mixture of intrigued and terrified.  
Perry gives her a flat look and then shakes her head, “No. There has never been a zombie related incident on this campus. You’re perfectly safe.”  
“So, we don’t have zombies?” Gwen asks.  
“Oh, we do, but they behave themselves.” Perry says.  
Gwen is the one to look startled now, but just shrugs and shakes her head, “I suppose they’re not any more of a monster than I am. But hypothetically, zombieism spreads. The world is overrun and now only pockets of humanity are still alive. How do you survive?”  
Perry looks hesitant to even begin answering this question, but then shrugs and says, “I would stick with LaFontaine. They would figure out how to deal with the zombies. Probably find a cure for the epidemic too. I suppose having the others around would be good too. Although spending extended time with Carmilla can be…tiresome, I can imagine she’d be rather good to have around during something like that. You wouldn’t be too bad yourself, what with being a werewolf and all.”  
Gwen nods, “Solid answer. I think I’d probably do the same. Stick with the group. Seeing Danny wale on zombies would be awesome and hot. That or I’d become an optometrist or something.”  
Perry stops what she’s doing and looks over at Gwen confused now, “I’m sorry, did you just say optometrist? I think I misheard you.”  
“No, you heard me right. Think about it. Zombie apocalypse happens. Resources are limited. People are probably broken into groups. Fighting one another for supplies. But people are still going to need glasses. I’d be invaluable. They’d have to keep me around.” Gwen replies.  
Perry just shakes her head, “Okay, let’s change the subject. This is not an area I wish to discuss.”  
“Sorry, sorry.” Gwen says fidgeting, “When I get nervous I sort of babble about nerd stuff. I could talk about D&D if that’s better?”  
“D&D?” Perry asks.  
“Dungeons and dragons.” Gwen says, “It’s a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game where you roll dice and use your imagination to…”  
Perry sighs, “Go back to discussing zombies.”  
Gwen shuts her mouth and they are quiet for several more minutes. Gwen then begins to speak again, “So…robot apocalypse.”  
Perry groans.

 

Back underground

Laura, Danny, and Kirsch are still running through the tunnels with the wurms chasing after them. Kirsch is on occasion picking up rocks and chucking them back at the wurms, but they aren’t having much of an effect.  
“LaF…we…can’t…run…forever…” Laura pants.  
“Sorry…okay, so they’re basically like giant regular worms…with a few more teeth. And on top of that, they appear to be vulnerable to sunlight.” LaFontaine says, “But l I don’t know where you’re going to get sunlight with how deep down you guys are.”  
“That…doesn’t…help…” Laura says.  
“Well, I’m sorry! I don’t know what else to tell you! They shouldn’t be attacking!” LaFontaine shouts.  
“We may have to…face off against…them.” Danny says drawing her baton.  
Kirsch suddenly looks over at Laura and says, “Wait…I think I…got an…idea.”  
Both Danny and Laura look over at Kirsch surprised. Danny finally gets out, “What? You? Have an idea?”  
‘I know…right.” Kirsch says, “Bro…Laura, do you…still have…the cube…of gas?”  
“Uh…yeah.” Laura says reaching into one of her belt pouches and pulling it out.  
“It like…still has stuff…in it…right?” Kirsch directs this question to LaFontaine.  
LaFontaine says, “Yeah, should have two more doses.”  
“Hand it…to me.” Kirsch pants and Laura hands it to him, “Okay…how do I…” He sees the button, “How…long do I have before…the gas leaks out.”  
“Five seconds.” LaFontaine says.  
“Okay…here…goes…nothing.” Kirsch says and stops running. He turns back towards the charging wurms and the other two slow down, shouting protests behind them as they turn back towards him.  
“Kirsch!” Laura shouts, “What…are…you…doing?”  
“Trust me…I got this.” Kirsch says, standing there waiting, “Go…keep…running.”  
Laura and Danny look at each other, reluctant to move.  
“Go!” He shouts, waiting for the wurms.  
“But…” Laura begins, but Danny grabs her by the arm.  
“Common, keep moving. We can’t waste…” She trails off as they begin to run again.  
Kirsch faces down the wurms as they charge at him, several of them letting out menacing shrieks as they approach.   
“It has to be close, right?” Kirsch asks.  
“Yeah.” LaFontaine says, “I hope you know what you’re doing buddy, cause I don’t really want to be scraping frat boy off the tunnel walls.” They say jokingly, but their tone is worried.  
“Don’t worry bro, I go this.” Kirsch says and just as the wurms are mere feet from him, he presses the button, and hurls the cube into the largest grouping of them.


	52. The door

The knockout gas pours out of the cube as Kirsch covers his nose and mouth and sprints away from the wurms as fast as he can. Behind him, he can hear the wurms collapsing into heaps as they fall victim to the gas. One close to him makes a weak lunge for him, but he dodges the lazy snap easily. Once he feels he’s a safe enough distance away he turns around to see all of the wurms have been successfully knocked out.  
He hears a crackling over his radio and then Laura’s panicked voice in his ear, “Kirsch! Kirsch! Talk to me! Are you there! Kirsch!”  
“Yeah bro, I’m here.” Kirsch says smiling, “And dude, it totally worked! They’re all out.” He turns and begins to walk towards the other two.  
“Wait it worked? It actually worked?” Danny asks, “What? How?”  
“How did you know that would work Kirsch?” LaFontaine asks.  
“You said the wurms were basically the same as normal worms, just you know, bigger and meaner. Well don’t regular worms breathe through their whole bodies? I figured the gas would have an even stronger effect on them since they like breathe through their whole bodies. So like one dose could knock all of them out.” Kirsch says and everyone is dead silent for several moments.  
“Whoa.” Laura says, “Nice Kirsch. That was…”  
“Good thinking.” Danny says sounding equally as surprised.  
“Nice going Kirsch.” LaFontaine says with a smirk in their voice.  
“Hey, don’t sound so shocked guys. I got a B- in Ecology last semester.” Kirsch says proudly.  
“Wait to go frat boy.” LaFontaine says laughing.  
“Thanks.” Kirsch says and spots Laura and Danny up ahead. He jogs over to them and they look at him with a mixture of surprise, confusion, and perhaps a little bit of pride.  
Danny punches Kirsch in the shoulder and just chuckles, “Goddess, I hate to say this, but that was kind of awesome.”  
Kirsch rubs his shoulder, but grins, “Thanks D-Bear.”  
Danny scowls now and shakes her head, turning around to walk back down the tunnel, “And you had to go and ruin it.”  
Laura laughs and says, “Great job Kirsch.” She then gives him a quick hug and follows Danny down the tunnel. Kirsch smiles to himself as he follows after them.   
The three walk for about fifteen minutes more when they begin to hear a soft hum and whirring, like the sounds of many computers. As they continue to walk they hear another sound they can’t quite place, like a low rumble. Every couple of seconds vibrations travel through the floor, but they have no idea what that could be.   
Up ahead they see another split in the tunnel, but before that split is a heavy, steel door with large bars across it. The sounds seem to be coming from behind it.  
Danny and Kirsch yank on the metal bars, sliding them up and out of their slots and freeing the door. The whole process isn’t exactly quiet, with loud metal clanks and bangs sounding throughout the tunnel.  
They all stop and listen, waiting for any sign that there is someone on the other side and that someone might have heard them. But the only sounds they continue to hear are the whirring and the low rumbles every few seconds.  
“You ready for this?” Danny asks as she looks at the other two, “Because if there is someone on the other side, they most definitely heard us. We could be walking into an ambush.”  
Laura hesitates and then nods. She thinks for a moment and then says, “I’m ready…but if you two don’t want to…I mean…”  
Danny waves her off, “We’re too far now to turn back.” She then draws her weapon from her stolen belt. The other two do the same, “Okay on the count of three, Kirsch open the door. I’ll go in first, Laura behind me, and then Kirsch taking up the rear.”  
“Hold up, why are you going first?” Laura asks, “This is my thing…I mean I dragged you guys into this…I should go first.”  
“Laura, if there is someone on the other side, they’re going to start firing as soon as we walk in the door.” Danny says.  
“I know, that’s why I should go first.” Laura says and Danny looks like she’s about to protest, but Laura puts up a hand to stop her, “No, Danny, I’m going in first.” Danny looks like she’s about to argue anyway when she notices the determined look on Laura’s face. She knows that look. She’s seen that look too many times to even think about arguing with Laura now. The only way that Danny was going to walk through that door first was if Laura was unconscious. And that didn’t seem like such a great plan.  
“Fine.” Danny says with a quick nod and Laura turns around to face the door, preparing herself for whatever is on the other side, but Danny puts a hand on her shoulder and she turns around to face Danny again, “Hey, about what I said earlier…about not thinking of others and being selfish and all that…I err…I wanted to apologize. It was mean and it was uncalled for and it was definitely not true. I just…well…things have been a bit stressful lately and when you just disappeared I was so worried. I was so worried that I began to hate you for it, for being gone, for making me worry. And I hated myself for feeling that way, cause I thought you could be captured or tortured or dead even. And then when I found out you weren’t any of those things, that you left on purpose it made me even angrier because…well it made me feel like you had…intentionally put me through hell. And I know that’s not what happened and I know that it’s wrong to feel that way. But it’s what if felt like and so, I’m sorry about all the stuff I said before.”  
Laura puts a hand on Danny’s arm and says, “It’s okay. And I’m sorry too, for putting you through all that, for making you worry. I didn’t mean for things to go the way they did. But best laid plans and all that. Anyway, I’m sorry.”  
Danny bends down and gives her a hug, “I forgive you Hollis.”  
“I forgive you too Lawrence.” Laura replies and then suddenly the two feel another set of arms wrap around them.  
“I love you guys.” Kirsch says as he squeezes them tight. Danny groans and pushes him off.  
“Moment ruiner.” Danny snaps.  
“What?” Kirsch says with a confused look on his face, “I thought it was like a group hug or something.”  
“Idiot.” Danny mutters and then looks at Laura, “Ready?”  
“As I’ll ever be.” Laura says and draws her weapon. She stands flush with the hallway, right near where the door will open. Danny stands behind her and Kirsch stands on the other side of the door, his arm stretched to the handle.  
“On the count of three.” Danny says and holds up her fingers, “One, two, three.”  
Kirsch swings the door open.


	53. Behind door number one

Underground

The door swings open and the three on the other side wait for any sort of response. But nothing happens. After a few moments Laura peers her head around the doorway and then quickly ducks back, expecting gunfire or lasers or shouting or something. But once again nothing. Inside the room all she saw was machinery.  
“So?” Danny whispers.  
“I don’t think anyone is here.” Laura whispers back and then peers around the doorway again. She takes a better look at the room and sees that the entire far wall is covered with some kind of supercomputer looking device. She takes a step out from behind the door, weapon still draw, and then inches into the room. She looks around, but sees no one.   
Instead, in the empty room, which is only three times as large as her bedroom, she finds the computer along one wall, a large monitor on the other showing a map of the school with some symbols and writings on it she doesn’t understand, and another doorway along the right wall. On the floor, drawn in heavy white paint, is a large circle with some other symbols such as triangles and diamonds painted across it. It looks like some kind of ritualistic symbol, reminding her of the transmutation circles in full metal alchemist or many other spell casting events in other TV shows and movies.   
Around the edges of the circle are five jars and as she approaches one of them she feels heat coming off it.  
The white lines on the floor glow softly and she feels a strange prickling sensation as she gets closer to her, making the hairs on her arms stand on end.  
She looks around the room some more and figures the whirring noises are probably coming from the computer. She turns when she feels the vibrations again and finds that it’s coming from behind the other door.  
She turns back to the others to see Danny entering the room and looking around and Kirsch following closely after.  
Danny eyes the symbol on the floor warily, but makes her way around it to the map on the wall. Kirsch on the other hand approaches the symbol and looks at it confused.   
“What do you think it means?” Kirsch asks.  
“What does what mean?” LaFontaine says over their radio, “What’s happening?”  
“We found a room.” Laura says, “There’s a large computer system in here as well as a strange symbol painted on the floor. The symbol is glowing.”  
“What does the symbol look like?” LaFontaine asks.  
“There’s a circle and then there’s like a square with like four loops coping out of it and its linked to I don’t know, a sort of weird swirly fish.” Laura describes as best she can.  
LaFontaine waits for her to finish and then says, “Okay, I have no idea what that looks like.”  
Laura frowns and then tries again, “It’s like a circle and inside the circle is a square, but each corner of the square makes a loop and then inside the square is a swirly fish.”  
“Nope, still having trouble.” LaFontaine says.  
“Bro, it kind of looks…Celtic?” Kirsch says.  
“Celtic?” LaFontaine repeats and Kirsch affirms it, “Hmm.” They say and there is a long pause and the sound of typing, “And you said there’s a square within a circle, with how many loops?”  
“Four.” Laura says.  
“Okay, hold on.” LaFontaine says and continued typing can be heard.  
Danny is still looking at the map, “This circle here is around the entire campus.” She points, directing the other two’s attention towards her, “And I think this is where we are.” She points to a red dot a few miles away from the ruins of the Lustig, “We’re about near the center of the campus.”  
Laura stands up from where she was crouched by the symbol and walks over to Danny, “Do you know what these other dots mean?”  
Danny shakes her head as she looks over the map, “This is the library here.” She says pointing to a building shaped like the library. And there is a dot inside it, but I don’t know what that means. There is also a dot over here, by the science labs.” She points there, “You said you thought something might be going on over there?”  
“Yeah, there is a lot of security in that area.” Laura says, “Maybe that’s where they’re holding Carm and the others!”  
Danny nods, “Maybe.” And then points to a few more dots in different colors, “There are some in the North woods, some by the dorms, and one in the cafeteria. I don’t know what they mean. And there are a few symbols here and there. Like this weird swirl over here.” She points to the fine arts department, “Like what does that even mean?”  
Laura shrugs, “I have no idea.” She then gestures behind her to the symbol on the floor, “Nor do I know what the heck that is.”  
Danny shrugs back, “It’s a Celtic shield knot.”  
“A what now?” Laura asks, but before Danny can answer there’s a crackling noise and LaFontaine comes back on.  
“Okay, so I’m thinking you’re looking at a Celtic shield knot that has been imbued with magical properties.” They say.  
“Apparently.” Laura says with a smirk towards Danny who pulls on her red hair.  
“I get it from my mother’s side.” She smirks back.  
“So what does a shield knot do?” Laura asks, “I’m going to guess shield things?”  
“Give the girl a prize.” LaFontaine says, “Yeah, they’re supposed to shield you from like evil spirits or malevolent influence or whatever. Taken to their magical extreme and perhaps mixed with some fancy technology and well…”  
“You get a giant force field that covers the whole campus.” Laura finishes.  
“Bingo.” LaFontaine says.  
“But why Celtic?” Laura asks, “Seem weird for the area. Why not any number of other ancient civilizations?”   
“Beats me.” LaFontaine says, “Although druidic symbols are supposedly known for their protective strength. So maybe that’s it.”  
“What’s with the fish?” Kirsch asks, “And the pots.” He leans over one of the jars to get a better look. He looks about ready to open one, when Laura clears her throat.  
“Kirsch.” She snaps.  
Kirsch looks up at her and frowns, “So…no touchy?”  
“No touchy.” Laura scolds and Kirsch nods.  
“I would also like to know how this thing is being powered?” Danny asks as she begins to look around the room more, “I see a big ass computer. I see a magic symbol on the floor. But I do not see a power source.”  
“Perhaps it’s behind door number two.” Laura says gesturing to the large unopened door with the vibrations coming from behind it.  
“Right.” Danny says, “More unknowns. Perfect.”  
Laura laughs darkly and shakes her head, “So, we try this again.” She draws her weapon.  
“Yeah, I guess so.” Danny says with a sigh.


	54. Behind door number two

Kirsch stands to the right of the doorway, hand on the door handle. Laura and Danny are stacked to the left, weapons drawn. The metal bars have been moved away and Danny begins to count down.  
On three Kirsch wrenches open the door and Laura and Danny wait for a moment before bursting into the room, weapons out. Their eyes scan the room for any signs of attackers, but they are surprised to find a room much, much larger than they imagined.  
The cavern is about as large as a football stadium, with a ceiling just about as high. There are heavy support beams supporting the high ceiling and areas filled with cement or steel where the walls or ceiling might have been weak.  
There are heavy cables that run out from the center of the room towards the room they just came from, that go through the wall and probably into the machinery on the other side of the door. They can feel the vibrations even stronger now coming from the center of the room.  
Besides the small lights along the walls, there is minimal lighting in the room, so most of it is cast in shadow. However, they can see that there is a large pit in the center of the cavern and they can feel the vibrations coming from that area.  
“Whoa.” Kirsch says as he walks in behind them.  
“Whoa indeed.” Danny says and takes another step in. There’s a clicking noise and then all the lights come on in sequence, flooding the room and causing them all to squint at the sudden change.  
Once they adjust to the light, they see the room more clearly. A few feet in front of them is a dense sort of mesh fence that wraps around the entire room and forms a dome over the pit. Laura has a feeling this is electrified. A few feet beyond that Laura can see the air shimmer and figures it’s another force field. Beyond the force field is a row of metal turrets with large, scary looking guns sitting on top pointed at the pit. Beyond that is a large, red glowing net that is hovering above the pit, looking ready to drop down at any moment.  
“Whoa.” Kirsch repeats himself and the other two just nod.  
“What’s going on guys?” LaFontaine asks.  
“There is a lot of stuff in between us and whatever is in that pit.” Laura says.  
“Pit? What’s in the pit?” LaFontaine asks.  
“We don’t know. But whatever it is, the Dean and her ilk are pretty damn scared of it.” Danny says.  
“I think it’s also what’s powering the force field.” Laura says.  
“Oh goddess, what did they do now.” LaFontaine says shaking their head on the other side of the radio, “Don’t tell me their using some big, bad nasty to power their force field.”  
“Looks like.” Laura says.  
“Damn it.” LaFontaine says, “When will these people ever learn not to mess with this crap?”  
“Never apparently.” Danny says.  
“Okay, well we just need to figure out how to turn this whole mess off, right?” Laura asks.  
“I think the computer in the other room is probably the interface.” Danny says gesturing behind her.  
“So…we hack into the computer and like turn this whole thing off, right bros?” Kirsch asks.  
“And how do we actually do that?” Danny asks looking over at Laura.  
Laura looks slightly concerned now, “Well….LaF was supposed to do it.”  
“You mean the LaF that is several miles away and several miles up from our location, with a wall of rock between us and them, that LaF?” Danny offers.  
“…yeah.” Laura says and then speaks to LaFontaine, “So…”  
“I could try trekking through one of the other tunnels.” LaFontaine says, “See if it leads to where you are.”  
“We have no idea if those tunnels even get to us.” Laura says, “Besides, I don’t like the idea of you walking through here all by yourself with no weapons.”  
“Who says I don’t have any weapons?” LaFontaine asks.  
Laura laughs, “Okay, you probably have weapons. But I still don’t want you wandering down here by yourself without any guarantees you’ll be able to get to us.”  
“So, what do we do?” Danny asks.  
“LaF, do you think you could walk one of us through hacking into their system?” Laura asks.  
“Probably.” LaFontaine says.  
“And how long would that take?” Laura asks.  
“Uh…several hours at least.” LaFontaine replies, “Maybe more.”  
Laura groans, “We do not have several hours.”  
“So, we have to do this manually.” Danny says, “Which means we’re going to have to unplug whatever that is from the device.”  
“Yep.” Laura says.  
“And the plug probably isn’t on this end.” Danny says.  
“Yep.” Laura says.  
“So one of us is going to have to go through all of that to unplug it.” Danny says gesturing to the many obstacles in between them and whatever is in the pit.  
“Yep.” Laura says and sighs, “Nothing can ever be easy, can it?”  
“Nope.” Danny says, “Buck up Hollis, we’re almost there.”  
Laura sighs and then says, “There looks to be doorway in that mesh fence. I think they want people to be able to get in and out.”  
“Probably have to feed the thing every once in a while or something.” Danny says.  
“We just have to turn the fence off.” Laura says looking around the room, “Anyone see an off switch?”  
Kirsch looks around and sees a large metal handle that appears to be an on/off switch, “That thing.” He points.  
“Yeah, that thing.” Danny says and jogs over to it. She examines it, “Kirsch, com here.” She waves him over and he walks over to it, “When I tell you, pull this. Once I’m through the gate, turn it back on. I’d rather not be the reason some monster escaped.”  
“Got it D-Bear.” Kirsch says and Danny rolls her eyes.  
“Whoa, wait.” Laura says, “Who said you were going in there?”  
“I did.” Danny says.  
“No way, I should be the…” Laura begins, but Danny cuts her off.  
“No Laura, it’s my turn.” Danny says seriously and then smiles at her, “Besides, you have to be around to get your girl, right?”  
“Danny…” Laura says.  
“I’m kidding.” Danny says, “It’ll be fine. The stuff is set up to keep the thing in, not keep people out.” She then walks over to the mesh fence and cracks her knuckles, “Time for some thrilling heroics.”  
“Okay, so you’ve see firefly, but not star wars!” Laura shouts, “What is the matter with you?”  
“I promise Hollis, once this is over, we’ll watch it together, okay?” Danny says.  
“Deal.” Laura says.  
Danny then turns to Kirsch, “Ready, bro?”  
“Ready D-Bear.” Kirsch says and pulls down on the lever. There’s a loud clanging sound and then the soft hum coming from the fence stops. Danny hesitates a moment in front of the gate and then gently touches the handle. She pulls back her fingers quickly as if expecting to get shocked, but when that doesn’t happen she places her fingers back onto the handle.  
She holds it there for a couple of seconds before wrapping her whole hand around the handle and yanking the door open. She passes through the doorway without any issue. Once she closes the door she looks back at Kirsch who pulls up on the lever and the low hum of the fence comes back on.  
“Okay, step one complete. Now step two.” Danny says, more to herself than to the others.  
“Be careful!” Laura shouts, “Gwen said the force field really hurt, I mean that was because she’s a werewolf, and I assume you’re not. You’re not a werewolf are you?”  
“No.” Danny says.  
“So, it should be okay, but if it’s not, then we’ll figure it out. Like we’ll have to try something else. Cause Gwen said it was really painful and I don’t want you walking through it if it’s that painful. And so we’ll have to just turn it off some other way or maybe we’ll go back and bring LaF down here. Though that might take too long and I don’t want to have to go back through those wurms if…”  
“Laura!” Danny shouts back at her.  
“What?” Laura asks.  
“I know you’re nervous, but your rambling is making me nervous! Please stop!” Danny says.  
“Oh! Sorry.” Laura says, “Just, you know, be careful!”  
“Thanks Laura, I will.” Danny says as she approaches the force field. She stares at the shimmering wall and then reaches her hand out. She slowly brings her fingers forward until they're mere centimeters away from the field. She then takes a deep breath and plunges her hand into it. She closes her eyes and flinches slightly, expecting some kind of pain, but the most she feels is a dull tingling sensation going through her arm. She takes a step forward and then walks straight through the force field. She reaches the other side in a couple of seconds. She takes stock of herself, looking down at her body and at her hands. She touches her face, but finds that everything is completely fine.  
She lets out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding and then smiles back at the others. She takes a few steps forward and looks over at the turrets pointed towards the pit. She eyes them nervously as she approaches, but they don’t seem to be arming themselves.  
She walks towards the edge of the pit slowly, keeping part of her focus on the turrets. She approaches the edge and looks down into the pit.  
When she looks down her eyes go wide, and she says, “Oh, son of a bitch!”


	55. Old Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are about to get pretty intense. Just a warning.

“What!?” Laura shouts to her, “What is it?”  
“God damn it all!” Danny shouts.  
“Danny! What?” Laura says to her.  
Danny looks back at her, “The fish, the fish symbol on the Celtic knot. Now I know why that was there. What do we know that is big, scary, uber powerful, and just so happens to be fish like?”  
Laura’s eyes go wide, “What? No way. No way. It’s dead. That thing is dead. We killed it. Carmilla killed it. It can’t be here. It can’t be.” She begins to pace back and forth, “It can’t be here. This can’t be happening.”  
“What?” Kirsch asks concerned and confused, “What’s happening? I don’t understand. What does Danny see?”  
“Do not tell me they were that stupid.” LaFontaine says over the radio, “Do not tell me these people were dumb enough to even attempt this.”  
“What?” Kirsch asks again.  
This time Danny answers, “They were dumb enough. They’re using Lophiliformes as the power source.”  
Laura throws up her hands in exasperation, “What the hell!? No seriously, what the hell!? How is it here? How is it alive? I am like a thousand percent sure my girlfriend stabbed that godforsaken fish monster in its stupid face. It should be dead. It should be rotting fish sticks at the bottom of this hellish pit! It should not be here, being used as a stupid Duracell!” She begins to pace again and then just flops down on the floor, head in hands, “This is it. This is the moment that I lose it. I can feel my last shred of sanity slipping away right now. My last lucid moment has passed. I’m going to wake up tomorrow talking to condiments or something. I just…I can’t do this. I swear I can’t do this anymore. I can’t handle this level of crazy without completely losing my mind. I thought I could, but I can’t. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.”  
“Laura, Laura, Laura.” LaFontaine says over the radio trying to get her attention, “I need you to snap out of it. I need you to breathe. Take a deep breath for me.” Laura follows their instructions, “Yeah, that’s right, yep, deep breath. Good. Now take another one. Every inhale and exhale, count to four.” Laura does again, “Good, good. Yep. Keep doing that, over and over again until you can feel yourself calming down. Kirsch, go over to her.”  
“Sure bro.” Kirsch says and jogs over to her. He sits down next to her in the dirt and wraps and arm around her. He begins to rub circles on her back, “It’ll be okay bro, it’ll be okay. We got this.”  
Laura nods as she begins to feel tears well up in her eyes, “Okay, okay.”  
“Yeah Laura, we have this. We can do this.” Danny says from her spot near the pit, “We took this thing down once, we can do it again, no problem.”  
Laura nods again, “Yes, we can do this. We did it before. We can do it again.” She keeps breathing slowly in and out for a few more minutes until she finds herself calming down. After a few more minutes she suddenly feels embarrassed about her reaction and the fact that Kirsch is sitting next to her rubbing circles on her back and making soft cooing noises.  
“I’m okay Kirsch.” She says, “You can…um…stop now…but thanks.”  
Kirsch smiles and then pats her on the back, “No problemo.” He then leaps to his feet and walks back over to the lever.  
“And…uh…sorry guys.” Laura says as she slowly gets to her feet, “And thank you.”  
‘Hey, no problem.” LaFontaine says, “Happens to the best of us.”  
“For sure.” Danny says.  
There’s a long awkward silence before Laura clears her throat and says, “So…uh…you ready to do this or what?”  
“Yeah I am.” Danny says, “LaF, you want to help me out here?”  
“Okay, what do you see?” LaFontaine asks.  
Danny looks down at the bit where the angler fish seems to be in some kind of stupor. It’s eyes are closed and its breathing is slow and deep, sending vibrations running through the floor. She’s worried for a moment that being here might wake it, until she sees a strange device strapped around its head, neck, and running along its body.  
The device seems to be some kind of metal frame or exoskeleton. The frame runs along Lophiliformes’s spine, with a loop around the head just underneath he jaws, a loop around its midsection, and one near its tail. There are lights along this frame, indicating that there is some kind electronics in it, and just underneath he frame she can see cables and wires penetrating Lophiliformes’s flesh. She figures that whatever is converting Lophiliformes’s power into power to run the shield is also causing it to stay asleep.  
There are three thick cables that run from each of the loops and move away from Lophiliformes towards the edge of the pit. The three cables then run along the ground towards the far wall, where they bind together, and disappear into the other side.  
In addition to the metal exoskeleton, there appears to be heavy chains strapped across its body and fastened into the walls of the pit. Danny thinks about how little those chains would actually do.  
Danny relays all this to LaFontaine who begins to think.  
“Okay, so it looks like you’re going to probably need to unplug all three cables.” LaFontaine says, “From the source, which appears to be our good friend Lophii.”  
“Great.” Danny says wryly, eyeing the giant angler fish god, the gun turrets, and the hanging glowing net radiating quite a lot of heat warily, “And how much of a chance do you think there is that unplugging all these cables will wake Lophiliformes?”  
“Eh…under ten percent.” LaFontaine replies.  
“How about it trigging the traps?” Danny asks.  
There’s a pause and then, “Uh…over thirty percent, under forty.” LaFontaine says.  
“Reassuring as always.” Danny grumbles.  
“What? You asked.” LaFontaine says.  
“Okay, here we go.” Danny says, “You better be ready for when the shield drops.”  
LaFontaine nods, “I am ready to connect to our resident vampire.”  
“Okay.” Danny says and looks back at Laura and Kirsch. Kirsch smiles and Laura sends her a thumbs up. Danny sighs and then bends over the edge of the pit. She wraps her hand around the first cable, which is as thick as a fire hose, and yanks the two ends apart.  
There’s a clicking noise and the vibrations from the pit grow stronger. Danny drops the cable and about three feet of cable attached to Lophiliformes drop to its side, while the rest of the cable hits the dirt near the edge of the pit.  
Danny moves over to the next cable and does the same thing, pulling it apart. The vibrations grow once again stronger.  
“How we doing LaFontaine?” Danny asks as she approaches the third cable.  
“Force field is still up. Still no contact with Carmilla.” LaFontaine says.  
“Okay, last one.” Danny says and yanks the third cable out. She steps back a few feet, expecting the angler fish to suddenly come to life or for the turrets to start firing or something to happen. Instead, the only thing that happens is the vibrations in the floor grow stronger.  
“Did it work?” Danny asks and turns back to look at the force field behind her which is still up, “That one is still up.”  
Laura shrugs, “Maybe we did something wrong?”  
“Nope.” LaFontaine says with a bit of glee in their voice, “it’s working, all the the force fields up here are dropping.”  
“Why didn’t the one in here drop then?” Laura asks.  
“Must be on a different system.” Danny says, “It wouldn’t make sense for it to drop if Lophiliformes got free, cause it’s kind of there to stop it.”  
“Good point.” Laura says.  
“So, is that it?” Danny asks, “Can I plug it back in? Can we just go now?”  
“Not yet.” LaFontaine says, “The fields are dropping slowly, you have to wait. We have to see if this works.”  
“Right.” Danny says and begins to tap her foot on the floor, “Just you know, let me know when you’ve made contact.”  
“Yep.” LaFontaine says, “I’ll let you know when I’ve got Elvira.”  
There is about a minute of silence before a rumbling noise can be heard throughout the room. The rumbling starts off soft, but then builds and builds until it’s enough to set everyone’s teeth rattling.  
“What the hell is that?” Danny asks.  
“More wurms?” Kirsch asks.  
Danny looks over at the ground, but doesn’t see anything bursting from it, she then looks over at Lophiliformes and sees it beginning to twitch. Its tail flicks, its eye moves, and some of its spines spasm.  
“It’s not the wurms.” Danny says gravely and points to the angler fish.  
“Crapsticks!” Laura shouts, “LaF! How long do we have?”  
“I don’t know, a couple more minutes.” LaFontaine says nervously.  
“Well, our so called good friend Lophii is about to wake from its nap and I for one would not like to be here when that happens.” Danny says.  
“I just need a couple more minutes, I swear.” LaFontaine says, “I can feel Carmilla’s mind already, I just need to a get a lock on a location.”  
“Just, you know, hurry.” Danny says as she leans over and looks at the slowly awakening angler fish god.  
She watches Lophiliformes carefully, looking the fish up and down when she notices movement near the head. She turns her head towards it and sees Lophiliformes’s eye snap open. It seems to almost blink in confusion a few times, its eye rolling around as it tries to focus. Once it gains focus, It then locks its huge round eye on Danny and Danny freezes in place. There is a lot of hatred in that gigantic eye, a lot of hatred, intellect, and power reflected there.  
“Danny! Watch out for the light! Don’t let it hypnotize you!” Laura shouts.  
But it’s too late. The dorsal spine lifts and swings around, attempting to bring the lure into focus right before Danny.  
Danny attempts to cover her face, but knows its probably futile. She waits her inevitable fate, but it never comes. She stands there, waiting for her head to go foggy, for her mind to become singular and focused on just the light and Lophiliformes. But that doesn’t happen. Her mind remains clear.  
She moves her hands away from her face and suddenly realizes why. The dorsal spine, where the lure usually sits has been severed, the lure completely removed. All that remains is a partial stump.  
Both Danny and Lophiliformes seem to realize at the same time that the lure is no longer there. Lophiliformes let’s out an irritated shriek and then begins to try and free its body from the pit.  
Suddenly, Danny hears a sound like something powering up and turns to see the turrets activating behind her.  
“Danny! Hit the deck!” Laura shouts and Danny drops to the ground as all ten lasers, positioned in a circle around Lophiliformes, fire off huge red beams of energy. Lophiliformes lets out a loud, shrieking sound and begins to thrash, causing the ground to shake.  
Danny puts her hands over her head and closes her eyes. She can feel the ground shaking. She can feel the heat of the lasers less than half a meter above her head on top of the heat from the hovering red net, and suddenly she is very warm. She begins to sweat, with her hands over her head, and her eyes squeezed shut, hoping it’ll be over soon.  
After what feels like forever, but is probably less than thirty seconds the laser fire stops as it seems like the weapons need a cool down period and they need to recharge. Danny quickly looks over at Lophiiformes, which seems to have been stunned by the lasers, its eye blinking lazily, its body limp.  
“LaF!” Danny shouts as she slowly gets to her feet and walks over to the separated cables.  
“A couple more seconds.” LaFontaine says, there is a long pause and then, “I got her. I know where she is. Plug that stupid fish back in. Knock it out.”  
Danny leaps for the nearest cable, but hits the floor as she hears the lasers powering up again. They fire and Danny lies on the ground until they finish once more.  
She then reaches for the cable again when she begins to hear a beeping noise.  
“What is that?” Laura asks.  
“Sounds like a countdown, bro.” Kirsch says.  
“A countdown?” A countdown to what?” Laura asks.  
“I don’t know.” Kirsch says with a shrug and listens, “But it sounds like we have less than a minute.”  
Danny grabs one end of the cable and slams it into the other. There’s a clicking noise and Lophiliformes begins to thrash. It rises a few meters out of the ground and several of the chains are pulled out of the wall. The chains whip around and Danny ducks one that swings overhead. Lophiliformes drops back down to try and make another attempt at releasing its bonds.  
Danny races for the next cable, but is having difficulty grabbing the other end with the thrashing Lophiliformes causing the cable to bounce about. After several seconds, Danny finally grabs the two ends and crams them together too.  
“THIRTY SECONDS TO DEPLOYMENT” A robotic female voice says.  
The beeping behind her is growing louder, the countdown getting closer and closer to zero.  
“Danny! Leave it!” Laura shouts, “Let’s just go!”  
“We can’t leave! Its awake! We can’t leave it awake! It can’t escape!” Danny shouts back and runs to the next set of cables.  
The laser powers up again and Danny drops as the lasers fire. Once the lasers are finished she leaps to her feet again and rushes the cable.  
“TEN SECONDS UNTIL DEPLOYMENT” The robotic female voice says.  
“DANNY! COME ON!” Laura shouts.  
“Hold on!” Danny shouts back as she grabs onto one end of the cable. She struggles to grab the other end, as even in Lophiliformes’s dazed state it’s still attempting to escape its prison.  
She reaches out across the edge of the pit, trying to snatch he cable as it bounces about.  
“FIVE.” The robotic voice says, “FOUR.”  
“DANNY! Leave it!” Laura says and turns to Kirsch, “Turn off the gate. Let me through.” Kirsch switches off the gate and Laura rushes forward.  
“Almost have it.” Danny says as she grabs the other end of the cable.  
“Three. Two.” The voice says.  
Laura wrenches open the gate, “Danny!” She shouts as she barrels towards the force field.  
“Almost.” Danny says, pulling the end of the cable towards the other end.  
“One.” The voice says and the net above the pit drops.  
The glowing red net slices through everything in its path like a knife through butter.  
Lophiliformes doesn’t even have a chance to let out a roar before the net dices it into little tiny cubes in an instant to be scattered along the bottom of the pit.  
But the room isn’t silent, as a chilling scream rips through the air, causing Laura’s stomach to drop and her blood to run cold in her veins.


	56. What we leave behind

Above ground, by the Engineering building

LaFontaine can hear the countdown, they can hear Laura shouting, but worst of all, they hear the horrifying sound that Danny makes after the countdown reaches zero.  
They have no idea what’s going on. They have no idea what has just happened. They don’t even know if Danny is alive and no one seems to be giving them answers.  
“Hello! What the hell just happened! Hello! Laura! Danny! Kirsch! Talk to me! Say something! Is Danny okay? Are you guys okay? Someone? Anyone?” Lafontaine shouts into their headset, but gets no response. All they hear is bits and pieces of what’s happening. Laura shouting. Kirsch shouting. Laura sobbing. But it’s all broken up and mixed together and they can’t quite figure out what’s happening, what has happened.   
They are about to speak into the radio again when another voice distracts them, this voice coming from inside their head.  
“Brainiac? You still there? I feel like I can still feel you there.” Carmilla’s slow drawl rolls through her head.  
“Carmilla?” LaFontaine says out loud, startled, and then corrects themselves and speaks inside their head instead, “Carmilla? Are you still there?”  
“Ah, there you are Brainiac.” Carmilla says, “I lost you there for a few moments, but you seem to be back again.”  
“I don’t understand.” LaFontaine thinks, “I don’t understand how we’re still connected. The force field should be back up. It was back up. But now it’s down again….which means that Lophiliformes is probably dead.”  
“I know Lophiliformes is dead, I killed it. You were there.” Carmilla says, “And why are we talking of dead gods when we should be discussing freeing me?”  
“Lophiliformes wasn’t dead Carmilla.” LaFontaine says, “Or it was…and it came back, I don’t know. But the organization was using it to power the force field that is covering this school as well as many other force fields across campus. One of which was preventing us from speaking telepathically.”  
“Oh.” Carmilla says, “Well then. Where is Laura?”  
“Down in the ruins of the Lustig. They were trying to turn off the force field so we could find you. Which they succeeded at doing, since we’re you know, talking. But something has happened….”  
“Is Laura okay?” Carmilla asks, panic rising into her tone, “Is she hurt?”  
“I don’t know.” LaFontaine says, “Hold on.” They switch back over to listening to their radio, “Laura, talk to me! Laura! Kirsch! Someone!”  
Suddenly they can hear Laura again, “Oh god! Oh god.” Laura says, “Please be alive.”  
Kirsch shouts, “Laura! Is she…” he doesn’t finish his sentence.  
LaFontaine feels their heart rate increase exponentially. They figure from context that Danny is hurt, but how hurt they don’t know. And from the tone of their companions, they figure it isn’t good.  
“Danny is hurt.” LaFontaine thinks to Carmilla.  
“Xena?” Carmilla asks and although she would never admit it, LaFontaine can hear concern in her tone, “How badly?”  
“I don’t know.” LaFontaine thinks to Carmilla and then speaks over the radio again, “Laura, Kirsch, talk to me here.”  
“LaF?” Laura says as if she can’t believe someone else is still there, “LaF! Danny’s hurt. She’s…we’re going to need medical attention. Get…get Perry and your med kit and meet us at the entrance to the Lustig!”  
“Laura, how bad…” LaFontaine begins.   
“Bad!” Laura interrupts.  
LaFontaine leaps to their feet and races away, but adds as their running, “The force field is down. That won’t go unnoticed for long. I expect mediators will be inbound to your position shortly. You need to get out of there and soon.”  
“Got it.” Laura says.

 

Back underground 

Both Laura and Kirsch have managed to drag Danny away from the edge of the pit, through the force field, through the gate, and back into the room with the symbol. Although neither of them have noticed, the symbol has stopped glowing.  
Danny is lying on the ground, as Laura bends over her, tears streaming down her face and Kirsch stands awkwardly nearby, hands pulling at his hair.  
“Is she…is she…” Kirsch asks nervously and Laura shakes her head.  
“She’s not dead.” Laura manages to get out through a tight throat, “But she’ll never be the same.” She looks over at Danny’s right arm as she says this, feeling her stomach drop once more when she sees that where there once was a complete arm is now a cauterized stump a couple inches below the elbow.   
Laura just sits there staring at the wound when she finally registers what LaFontaine said.  
“We need to go. Now.” Laura says.  
“Okay.” Kirsch says, “Should we…can we move her?”  
“We’ll have to.” Laura says and looks down at the remains of Danny’s arm, “The wound has been cauterized. It won’t bleed. She won’t…she won’t bleed out…but…”  
“Okay.” Kirsch says with a nod and bends down and throws Danny over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. He grunts as he stands up.  
“Do you think you can carry her all the way out?” Laura asks.  
Kirsch grimaces, but nods, “Of course.”  
“Let’s move.” Laura says and makes her way towards the door. They make their way back out into the tunnel and Laura points towards the split up ahead, “We’ll have to go this way since the tunnel behind us is blocked off. Let’s just hope we don’t run into any mediators on our way out.”  
“Or wurms.” Kirsch says and Laura shudders at the thought.  
They head down the tunnel and take the split to the right, hoping that it’ll curve and head towards one of the other tunnels that lead back to the entrance. The right tunnel is narrower and curves just like they hoped. After traveling for about ten minutes the narrow tunnel comes to a T shape, with a wider tunnel running perpendicular to it.  
The two look both left and right and Laura looks down towards the right, “I hope this leads back to the entrance.”  
The two begin to walk down the large tunnel and find that while it goes fairly straight like the first tunnel they traveled down, there are many more side passages, doorways, and other openings than the first.   
As they pass by doors and tunnels of every shape and size, Laura wonders what could possibly be behind them. Thinking of the endless possibilities helps her distract herself from thinking of Danny and Carmilla. Because if she felt like she was losing it before, well, she didn’t know how to describe how she felt now.  
They walk for half an hour before they reach the end of the tunnel. They make it to the end and Laura feels a sense of relief when she realizes it is in fact the entrance. They’re about to step out into the room when they hear voices and footsteps and they see about twenty mediators making their way down into the ruins.  
Laura leaps back into the tunnel and Kirsch scuttles backwards as best as he can with Danny thrown over his shoulders. Laura presses herself up against the tunnel wall and Kirsch slowly lowers Danny to the ground as he crouches down.  
“Crapsticks.” Laura hisses to herself as she peers into the room again and sees the mediators assembling.  
“Bro, how do we get past them?” Kirsch whispers. But Laura doesn’t answer. She just looks on at the assembled mediators unsure of how to proceed.  
The mediators seem to be discussing plans. One of them Laura recognizes from training and she figures he must be the leader as he is talking and pointing the most. He points to each of them and directs them toward each of the tunnels. Splitting them off into groups of six and directing two to remain in the room.  
“We have to move. We have to hide now.” Laura whispers to Kirsch, slapping him on the shoulder and pushing him towards a nearby doorway.  
“In there?” Kirsch whispers as he throws Danny back over his shoulder.  
“Yes, move.” Laura says as she watches the mediators still talking, but looking like they are about to start moving.  
She quickly opens the door and ushers Kirsch inside. She then closes the door quietly. As soon as she closes the door she realizes her mistake. She has no idea what these rooms contain and for all she knows she could be walking into a room filled with poisonous snakes or tigers or those creepy millipede things.   
She whips around, expecting some kind of attack, but instead finds the room to be empty of anything except filing cabinets. The room is small and only has six filing cabinets in it. She looks over at Kirsch who is sitting up against the wall, with Danny lying across his lap, her head cradled in her arms.  
“How is she?” Laura asks nervously.  
Kirsch looks up at her, clearly distraught, “She’s breathing.” Is all he says and looks down at Danny once again.  
Laura listens at the door, but hasn’t heard anyone go by yet. So instead she walks into the room and examines the filing cabinets. She opens the nearest one and finds a number of files with different names on them and years. She continues to open the filing cabinets and finds files dating all the way back to the late eighteen hundreds.   
She flips through a few of those and finds that each of them talk about student disappearances. She closes those files and begins to look at the names, all female names. She gets a sinking feeling in her stomach again. She flips through the names and spots one file with a name that is somehow familiar, Sarah Zamloch. She can’t remember where she’s heard that name before, so she pulls out the file and quickly begins to read.   
On Saturday, November 17th 1984, a missing person’s report for Sarah Zamloch was filed by her sister Viktoria Zamloch. At the time of the report, the sister states that Sarah Zamloch has been missing for at least two days. She also states that Sarah Zamloch had been behaving strangely days prior….  
Before she can read any further she hears booted footsteps approach. She rushes over to the door, file folder underneath her arm as she listens. Six sets of footsteps come and go and Laura looks over at Kirsch.  
Kirsch looks at her and whispers, “We good, bro?”  
Laura holds up a finger as if to say wait. She waits for another few minutes before she nods, “Let’s go.”  
She opens the door slowly and peers out into the hallway. No one is around and she waves Kirsch over. He lifts Danny up once again and they make their way back down the tunnel. They make it to the end where they spy the two mediators guarding the exit.  
“How do we get past them, bro?” Kirsch asks.  
Laura thinks for a moment.   
“I could probably take them both out.” Laura says, “But it’d be easier if I took out one and you took out the other. Although, they have weapons. I don’t know if we could get to them before they fired at us.”  
“Don’t we…don’t we have weapons too bro?” Kirsch asks and then gestures as best he can to his belt.  
Laura looks down at her own belt and blushes, “Oh right, very good point Kirsch.” Laura draws out her taser and says, “I’ll shoot one, you got the other?”  
Kirsch nods, drawing his weapon with one hand, “Got it.”  
“Okay, on the count of three.” Laura says inching forward to get a better shot, “One, two…”  
She’s interrupted though by a loud snarl coming from up above.   
“Whoa, what was that?” Kirsch asks. Laura shakes her head, unsure.  
The snarling continues, attracting the attention of the two mediators in front of them. The two look up at what is going on above.  
There’s another snarl and some loose dirt and rocks comes tumbling down from above. They hear someone letting out terrified gasps.  
Then a voice, gruff and feral sounding echoes down from above, “I’m going to count to three. On three you are either going to let me by or your friend here is going to take the fast way down, got it?”  
Another voice, high pitched and more nervous sounding says, “I…I can’t do that…I can’t…”  
“One.” The gruff voice says.  
“Please, let me go…I mean don’t let me go…but please don’t drop me.” A panicky voice shouts.  
“Two.” The gruff voice says.  
“I can’t do it. I…” The other voice says.  
“Two and a half.” The gruff voice continues.  
“Okay, okay.” The other voice says, “Fine, just…just don’t drop him. Just please…put him down.”  
“I won’t drop him.” The gruff voice says and then suddenly there’s a dull thwacking sound, a pain grunt, and somebody hits the dirt. There’s also the sound of something firing, another roar, and another smacking sound. Another somebody hits the dirt.  
The two mediators in front of Laura and Kirsch begin to sprint up the staircase. A few moments later the two can hear a struggle going on above, one with a lot of snarling and snapping and smacking sounds. But that too ends quickly and after a couple more moments Laura can hear familiar voices making their way down the staircase.  
“…violence absolutely necessary?” A very Perry like voice says.   
“It’s not like we could reason with them.” The gruff voice from before says, but seems to be becoming less gruff and more feminine as they speak.  
“If you were just going to knock them out, why did you feel the need to dangle that guy over the edge.” A voice that is clearly LaFontaine asks with some amusement.  
“Okay, so I did think that I could reason with them.” Gwen says, “But the other one wouldn’t stop pointing her taser at me. What was I supposed to do?”  
“I don’t know, not scare the guy enough that he pisses himself.” LaFontaine says.  
“So, you’re saying I should just always come in swinging, diplomacy be damned?” Gwen asks.  
“You call that diplomacy?” Perry asks, “I’m afraid to ask what you think intimidation techniques are.”  
“It wasn’t like I was actually going to drop him.” Gwen says, “Besides, we had to act fast. I mean, with what you said about…and…I can’t just sit…and…” Her assured nature seems to dissipate quickly and there’s a somewhat choked nature to her voice.  
“Oh honey, it’ll be okay.” Perry says as the group reaches the bottom of the steps. Kirsch and Laura watch them carefully and then Laura nods to Kirsch.  
“Where are they?” Gwen asks as she begins to look around. She then spots Laura making her way towards them from the second tunnel. She’s relieved to see Laura, but she can tell from the girl’s expression, a mixture of grimness, nervousness, and just completely dazed, that whatever has happened here, isn’t good. She’s never seen this look on Laura’s face before and it makes her feel sick.  
The other two have actually seen a look similar to this one on Laura’s face and that makes them feel even worse.  
“Where is she?” Gwen asks rushing forward, desperation in everything she does, “Where is she Laura? Where is she?”  
Laura looks behind her at Kirsch bringing Danny forward and Gwen looks over Laura at him.  
“I’m sorry.” Laura says, her voice strained and Gwen can feel her heart beating faster and faster in her chest, “She’s alive.” Laura quickly adds as she can see the stricken look on Gwen’s face, “But…she’s been…she’s…”  
Kirsch and Danny come in full view and there’s a collective gasp as everyone can see what remains of Danny’s right arm draped over Kirsch’s chest.  
Gwen rushes forward and has to stop herself from tearing Danny away from Kirsch. Instead, she holds out her arms and Kirsch gently lowers Danny down into them. Gwen can feel her arms shaking, not from the weight, but from all the emotions rushing through her. But as soon as Danny is in her arms, alive and solid, she feels the shaking stop. She nuzzles her face into Danny’s, feeling her skin contact skin, feeling Danny’s slow breaths, hearing her blood pulse in her arteries and there is a relief there. Gwen had feared the worst. And while this wasn’t ideal by any stretch of the imagination, all Gwen could think about was the fact that Danny was here, alive in her arms.   
“We have to go.” LaFontaine says as they eye the tunnels and Danny nervously, “We have to go now.”  
The others agree and they make their way out of the dark pit where the Lustig used to be.


	57. Going in

In LaFontaine and Perry’s room

They would all normally be sitting in silence, gathering themselves, recovering from the events that had just occurred. But they didn’t have time for that. One of their own was still captured, still in danger. They didn’t have time. And so, instead of reflecting, they were all in action.   
Laura, Kirsch, and Gwen were prepping to infiltrate Carmilla’s location, prepping for whatever they could if necessary. And even though everyone could see Gwen was at war within herself about whether she should stay by Danny’s side or help rescue Carmilla, she knew what her girlfriend would say if she just sat idly by because of her. So instead, she was gearing up with the others, with her eyes on Danny the whole time.  
LaFontaine was keeping in contact with Carmilla as well as trying to locate mediator patrols, find a layout of the lower levels of the labs, and sending out units of panthers and wolves to set up distractions.  
Perry was tending to Danny who still hadn’t woken up.  
“We should take her to the hospital.” Perry says, not for the first time, “We can’t just…I mean…she’s so…she hasn’t woken up and I can’t do…I can’t do much else for her.”  
“Neither can the hospital.” LaFontaine said over their shoulder as they watched a screen.  
“Besides, I don’t trust the hospitals.” Gwen says, “I’m fairly certain they’re under the control of the Dean and her organization. That purple haired girl…what’s her name…”  
“Bianca.” Perry supplies.  
Gwen snaps her fingers, “Yes, Bianca, she’s gone missing. No one has seen or heard from her since she was taken to the hospital to “recover”.” Gwen adds air quotes to the last word, “There’s no way I’m letting Danny go there and disappear on me. I’m not letting her out of my sight ever again not after…” She trails off as she stares at Danny’s arm and then realizes she’s leaving with Laura in a moment, “Well…I’m leaving her out of my sight one more time and that’s it. This is the last time.”   
Laura pats her on the shoulder, “I appreciate you helping me.”   
Gwen flinches away from her touch though and mutters, “Not for you.”  
But Laura hears it and turns to face her, “Are you mad at me too now? Is it your turn now? Is everyone going to take their shot at me?” Laura asks now turning to face everyone in the room, “Well, if everyone wants to say something to me, let’s get this over with. I’d rather do it all at once than have you each wait your turn and spring it one me. So, come one. Let’s do this. I’m ready. I can take it.” She looks everyone in the eyes or tries to, but no one is looking at her, “Well?” She asks.  
“Well what?” Gwen asks.  
“Well, what do you have to say? Do you have to say perhaps that I’m stupid? I’m stupid for risking my life to save everyone on this campus again. Or maybe that I’m selfish for attempting to do this on my own, for trying to leave you all out of it, and let you live normalish lives? Or maybe I did all this to just prove myself right? Or because I only think about Carmilla and myself? Or because of any of the million other reasons that all of this is somehow my fault. Well I’m sorry. I’m sorry for trying to do this one on my own. I’m sorry for not including you. I’m sorry for putting you through all the worry that I did, through all the heartache that I did. I made a mistake. And I’m sorry for that. But you can’t blame me for trying. Cause you can’t tell me, that if you were in my shoes, if you had the opportunity to make sure your loved ones were safe and out of harm’s way, you wouldn’t have done the same. Because that’s what I thought I was doing, protecting you guys. Did it work out like I expected it to…no…not really, but that is what I thought I was doing when I made that decision. And god damn it I am done with making long speeches and apologizing for today, for this week, for this month. Cause I feel like I’m just repeating myself now, over and over again.” Laura says.  
Everyone looks at her speechless and Gwen looks like she’s about to speak when Laura holds up a finger to silence her. She walks over and gives Gwen a hug, “One more apology, I am sorry for what happened to Danny. So very, very sorry. And that is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life.”  
Gwen stiffens for a second and then hugs Laura back, “I know. I’m sorry. And it’s not your fault. But you know whose fault it is?” She releases Laura from the hug.  
“The evil bitch running this school?” LaFontaine asks.  
Gwen nods, “Yep. And I have a fist with her fucking name on it right here.” She holds up a fist, “I am going to punch her so hard bards will sing tales of how hard I punched her.”  
“You’re going to sing a song about it, aren’t you?” Laura says, “You’re the bard.”  
“Sssshhhh.” Gwen says holding a finger her lips and patting Laura on the head, “It’s less cool if I sing about my own exploits.”  
“It’s cool in the first place?” Laura asks and Gwen looks hurt, “What? Carmilla isn’t here and I felt the need to fill the void.”  
“Yes well, taking pot shots at my musical ability is completely unnecessary.” Gwen says pouting, “For that, you won’t be included in my epic ballad about this semester’s adventures.”  
Laura smirks and shakes her head, “You know I’m only joking.” She pats Gwen on the arm and begins to walk towards the door before she adds, “About wanting to be in your ballad.”  
Gwen clutches her chest with fake chest pains, “You wound me madam. I will write a song of the pain you have given me and I will sing it to you every day so you will know my agony.” She says as she follows Laura towards the door, Kirsch trailing behind.  
Laura opens the door and leaves the room, her voice can be heard from outside, “Why will I know your agony? Cause I have to listen to your song?”  
“Laura!” Gwen scolds and muffled laughter can be heard, fading as Laura walks away from them.  
“Good luck guys!” Perry shouts after them and then says more quietly to herself, “Be safe.”

 

Back where Carmilla is

Carmilla feels weak. She feels frail. She feels vulnerable. And she hates feeling vulnerable.   
She’s been hacking away at the strap tying her right arm down for the past two hours with the small, sharp blade of the scalpel. The fact that she isn’t through enough of it yet to just tear the strap away from its foundation is endlessly frustrating. She keeps thinking if she just even had half her normal strength, the strength she had just hours before, she’d be free by now. Full strength and she’d be tearing this place apart. But those thoughts aren’t helping her escape, they’re just making her angrier and angrier.   
So all she can do right now is cut and cut and mutter about secret organizations and crazy Deans and wish she was in Paris with her girlfriend instead of lying in a lab, strapped down to a table.  
But there is some hope in all her dark thoughts, she knows they’re coming for her. About forty minutes ago she heard LaFontaine’s voice in her head for the first time since that morning. And she’d never thought she’d say this, but it was honestly a relief to hear their voice.   
She heard them for a couple moments before it cut out again and then suddenly they were back. She knew something had happened to Danny, but she didn’t know exactly what.   
She knew Laura was coming for her. Whether that was good or bad, she didn’t know for sure. Normally she’d hate the idea of Laura putting herself into danger to save her because normally she could save herself.   
But right now, she wasn’t sure she could. And while most of her still didn’t want Laura to put herself in danger for her, there was a small part in the back of her head that wished Laura would get here soon because she was afraid.  
And the fact that there was a small part of her that felt that way made her even angrier. Angry enough that her hands began to shake and the blade slipped and she managed to nick her hand. It was a shallow, straight cut to the back of her hand, but it stung badly and it bled profusely.   
The blood slid down her hand, red and bright, and dripped onto the floor below her, staining the perfectly white room. She stared at it as it went, feeling slightly off about it for some reason. She continued to watch the blood and suddenly felt her stomach turn, as if she were going to be sick. Her skin began to feel clammy and she felt slightly lightheaded. She expected her heart to start racing any minute now, but her heart still didn’t beat, was still dormant.   
She looked away from the blood and immediately began to feel better. She turned back to her bloody hand and felt sick once more.   
Then suddenly it occurred to her what was wrong. She didn’t want to drink the blood. There was no hunger, no desire, no draw to the blood. Even worse than that, she suddenly remembered that when she was human the sight of blood used to make her feel ill. And it seemed, as she was slowly returning to her human form, she was gaining that trait once again. It made her want to punch a wall.  
Instead she ignored the anger, the blood, and the pain and returned to cutting the straps because even if Laura was coming here to rescue her, she still had to get out of here as soon as possible. She didn’t know when the doctors would return to run more experiments. So the sooner she left the better.  
And a part of her wondered if there was pride involved. She wasn’t a damsel in distress and she certainly wasn’t going to sit around and wait for someone to rescue her. Even in her diminished state she could still take care of herself. It wasn’t just her vampiric nature that had let her survive all these years, but her cunning, resilience, and indifferent attitude. And even without all her vampire strength and speed, she was still her and she could still save herself.  
So she would continue to try and escape, because what else could she do?

 

By the fine arts building

Laura, Kirsch, and Gwen are crouched down behind the fine arts building, watching a patrol of mediators march by.  
“You know you could just go.” Gwen whispers to Laura, “I mean it’s not like they know it was you who killed the Angler Fish and dropped the force field. They probably still think you’re a loyal little storm trooper. If you just went and left me, things would go so much faster. You wouldn’t have to keep hiding.”  
Laura puts a finger to her lips to silence Gwen as another patrol walks by. Once they’re far enough away she says, “No, I’m not leaving you. Plus, we’re going to need you once we get inside the labs. I have a feeling this isn’t going to be cake walk.” She pauses and then frowns, “And now I just realized I haven’t eaten all day and I’m starving. I really want cake now.”  
Gwen has to stifle a laugh and shakes her head, “Jeez, you’re making me hungry too. Stop talking about cake.”  
“Well now its all I can think about.” Laura says frowning deeper and begins to mutter under her breath, “Carmilla, Carmilla, Carmilla.” Trying to get her focus back, but instead she just says, “Crap that’s not working, now I just want creampuffs.”  
There’s a crackling noise and then LaFontaine speaks to them over their earpieces, “Focus Laura. You need to move between the building in a few seconds. On my signal.”  
Everyone tenses, getting ready to move.  
“Okay, now.” LaFontaine says and the three sprint across the gap between the two buildings and begin to move along the backside of the physics labs, “Carmilla should be below the Chemistry Labs, which you can get to through the Physics labs. Gwen you know how to get there right?”  
“I know how to get around the Chem Labs, but down below is restricted. I know how to get us to that point. Beyond that and we’re going blind.” Gwen says.  
“I found a rough blueprints online.” LaFontaine says, “But it appears to be from the nineteen-sixties. Let’s just hope they haven’t renovated in the last fifty years.”  
“Okay, let’s go.” Laura says and looks to Gwen, “Lead on McGruff.”   
Gwen pauses and cocks her head, “It’s lead on, MacDuff. It’s from Macbeth.”  
“I know, but I was making a play on words. You know, McGruff, the crime dog, and you’re a werewolf.” Laura says and then sighs as Gwen just shakes her head.  
Kirsch begins to laugh though once he gets it and Gwen just smirks, “There you go Laura, at least he thinks it’s funny.” Laura just grumbles to herself about ruining the joke by explaining it.  
“You know they say, when you explain a joke its like dissecting a frog, you learn a lot in the process, but in the end you kill it.” LaFontaine says over the radio as they hear Laura grumbling, they then add, “Also, it’s Lay on MacDuff, not lead on. Common misquote.”   
“Okay, so this whole thing was a train wreck then.” Laura says throwing her hands up in exasperation, “I guess I should stop trying to be funny. Let’s just go. Lead the way” She gestures for Gwen to move and Gwen just laughs and makes her way into the physics lab.  
The trio moves through the physics lab without incident. Gwen does note that the labs are oddly empty at this time of day and they wonder if the mediators are clearing out buildings while searching for them.  
They make their way from the physics lab into the chemistry labs. While the physics labs were basically empty, the chemistry labs are a bustling area of activity. They walk through the doors and quickly have to press themselves up against the wall to try to stay out of view as several mediators cross the hallway up ahead.  
They can hear voices, people shouting and just a general chatter. They see someone wearing a lab coat wheel a cart by, and then another group of mediators walks past.  
“I don’t think we’re going to be able to sneak past.” Kirsch whispers.  
“Looks like we’re just going to have to go in guns blazing then.” Laura says and draws out her taser and baton. She then turns to Gwen, “You ready?”  
Gwen grins and begins to transform into her werewolf form, her smile becoming frightening very fast as her teeth become razor sharp, “Ready.” She says with some difficultly.   
Laura peers down the hallway and spies three mediators and one scientist.  
“There are three mediators up ahead and one guy in a lab coat.” Laura says, “Kirsch and I can take out two of them with our tasers. The question is, can you get to the other two before they sound any kind of alarm?” She asks Gwen.  
Gwen, who has now almost completely transformed nods her head.  
Laura then smiles and says, “Alright, let’s do this.” She then looks at her taser and frowns, “I wish I could cock this thing. That would have been a cool moment to cock a gun or something right?”  
Gwen just rolls her eyes and points at the people.  
“Fine.” Laura says, “Excuse me for wanting to look cool for two seconds.” She then moves out into the hallway with Kirsch right beside her and fires.


	58. Snap

Under the Chem Labs, In Carmilla’s Room

 

Her fingers are numb, her hands are sore, and sweat is dripping down her face, but with one quick jerking motion of her right hand, the remaining threads on the strap snap, and her right hand is free.  
Once its free, she rips frees her left hand, then her right leg, and then her left leg in quick succession. She rips the IV out of her arm and races towards the door. She reaches out, tries the handle, and finds the door to be locked. Of course the door is locked.   
She wants to scream. She wants to punch something. Even a part of her wants to sit on the floor and cry. Instead, she leans up against the door and places her hands to her head, “Think, think, think.” She says to herself.  
She’s gotten this far, surely she can make it out of the room. She knows how to pick locks. All she needs are the tools. What does she have? She looks down at her hand and sees the scalpel. That’s a start, but she’ll need something smaller, like a paperclip or bobby pin.   
She looks around the room and finds that all there is, is the bed and the IV which is dripping on to the floor. She then spies the needle that was just in her arm at the end of the IV. That might work. She rushes forward and removes the needle from the IV.  
She then races back towards the door and makes quick work of the lock, counting her blessings that the lock seems to be old and simple and not something they upgraded.  
She slowly opens the door and then quickly shuts it as she hears footsteps approaching. She begins to curse her luck, imagining that Dan and John are making their way down the hall to give her, her third dose. She’s thinking about how she’ll fight them off and spies the IV stand, thinking it might make a decent makeshift weapon when she begins to hear voices.   
The voices are in fact Dan and John and they’re getting closer. Their voices aren’t muffled now and she can hear them pretty clearly.  
“…over an hour ago.” Dan says, “No idea why.”  
“Well they have some idea why.” John says, “I heard the thing was dead.”  
“Okay, I guess I meant who.” Dan says, “They don’t know who did it. I mean, the Karnstein girl is with us, so it couldn’t be her.”   
“She has accomplices though, we know that. The scientist one, the witch, the werewolf, the tall one, and the boy.” John says, “The Hollis girl told us all about them.”  
“Right, the ex.” Dan says, “Poor girl. Preyed upon by such monsters.”  
“Yeah well, the group of them is probably continuing where 33 left off.” John says, “Or it could be any number of the protesters that were out in front of the administration building a few weeks ago.”  
“True. We never did figure out who fire bombed the office.” Dan says and John laughs, “What?”  
“Dan, that was us.” John says.  
“What do you mean us?” Dan asks.  
“Come on, you knew this. We talked about this. The Dean had some of our men firebomb the building. Remember?” John asks.  
“That was us? But Jacobs died and Barnett was severely injured from that.” Dan says.  
“Yeah, well, acceptable losses as they say.” John says, “We’re trying to win a war here, you know.”  
“I suppose.” Dan says as the two are practically right in front of Carmilla’s door. Carmilla is waiting right up against the wall, IV stand in hand, preparing to take a swing at whichever one walks in first.  
She hears the click of a lock and a door open, but it isn’t her door, it’s the door next to her’s. Once she realizes this she gently opens her own door and peeks out. She can see the two scientists entering the room.  
“I guess I just don’t like all this death.” Dan says from inside the room, “Plus, now I feel worse about this one dying.”  
“What, why?” John asks and then begins to speak out loud as he writes, “Patient 26 had complications with dose 3 of phase 2. Ten minutes after dose 3 was administered patient 26 went into cardiac arrest. Despite medical interventions being applied, patient 26 died ten minutes later. Autopsy will be necessary to evaluate cause of death.”  
“Well, because before 26 was a terrorist.” Dan says.  
“She still is a terrorist.” John says, “Or was.”  
“You know what I mean.” Dan says and Carmilla can hear testing being done, “Lividity, normal. Temperature, normal. Hair and eye color…remain the same.” She hears Dan taking down notes.  
“No, I don’t know what you mean.” John says, “Magical affinity decreased to zero.”  
“Before, she was the girl who got her people to firebomb us. She got Jacobs killed. But now, she’s just some fool trying to fight the turn of history.” Dan says, “That makes me feel bad for her.”  
Carmilla began to get a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had a feeling about who they were talking about on the other side of the wall, but she didn’t want to be right. She hoped with all her might that she was dead wrong.  
Her dark thoughts are interrupted as she hears what sounds like a wolf’s howl coming from a few floors up. She grins, she knows they’re coming for her.  
“What the hell was that?” Dan asks.  
“Like I have any clue.” John says.  
“I just don’t want to know what’s going on up there.” Dan says and they continue to work.  
“Alright, preliminary examination of patient 26 is complete. Autopsy will commence in four hours time.” John says, “Let’s get her out of here.”  
Carmilla hears wheels squeaking on linoleum flooring and knows they’re pushing the body out of the room on the bed. She knows she probably should shut the door and hide back in her room until they’re gone, but she can’t. She has to know.  
She peeks out through the smallest crack in the door she can and watches as first John pulls the bed out and then the bed rolls by. She can’t really see who is on the bed as the body is covered in a white sheet.   
However, as the person’s head comes into view Carmilla can see strands of hair sticking out, purple strands of hair. And Carmilla knows, she knows who is under that sheet. She feels anger boil up inside of her and then she doesn’t remember all of what happens next.  
She blinks and suddenly she is standing in the middle of the hallway. She didn’t remember moving, but here she is. She realizes she’s breathing hard and there is sweat pouring down her forehead and down her hands.   
She looks down at her hands and realizes it isn’t sweat. There is a thick coat of fresh blood covering her hands and partway up her forearm. Blood is splattered across her shirt and pants and some even across her face. In her right hand she’s clutching a very bloody scalpel which is dripping blood onto the floor. Her left hand hangs loosely at her side, but she looks down to see a bloody IV stand on the floor.  
She starts to get an inkling of what happened and images of screaming and pained yells and her ferocious rage. But the images come and go quickly and they’re disjointed and out of order. She blinks a few times again and begins to regain her composure.  
She looks around and then drops to the ground as her new body reacts to the images before her. Her stomach heaves and she throws up all over the floor. She scowls as she stands back up, hating herself for what just happened. The throwing up part of it, anyway.   
Its not like it’s the first time she’s ever seen a dead body, especially not ones by her own hand. But her new human-like body is reacting in a way most humans would, even if she’s seen hundreds of dead bodies before.  
She looks around the room again and spies the bed, shoved off to one side of the hallway, probably knocked away in the struggle. She makes her way over there slowly, stepping around the remains of Dan and John on the floor.  
She lifts the sheet off the body and feels like throwing up again as she sees Bianca’s body lying there, cold and dead. She covers Bianca back up and sighs, remembering why she hated getting attached to people. 

 

Up above, in the Chem Labs

Laura and Kirsch have made their way down the hallways and are nearly to the section leading to the lower levels. Despite the large number of mediators and other personnel moving about, they’ve spent most of their time sneaking around them instead of fighting.   
Overall, they’ve probably only gotten into three skirmishes which ended rather quickly. But what’s made sneaking around easier is having sent Gwen off in werewolf to pose as a distraction. She’s drawn away most of mediators they would have encountered, taking out some when needed, but mostly just running around the labs causing havoc.   
Sometimes Kirsch and Laura have stumbled across an area when Gwen has been and it looks as if a tornado has struck, a tornado with teeth and claws. The walls have huge holes in them, the floor is a mess of tiles, books, papers, bottles, and other supplies. Sometimes they even walk in on a few groaning mediators strewn across the floor. One time they found a mediator stuffed up in a ceiling tile.   
But mostly they’ve stayed away from conflict and have made it all the way to where Gwen told them the doors to the lower levels were. The hallway they are in makes a T with the one leading down to the lower levels. The two of them sneak to the corner and peer around it. There are no guards currently posted there, but there does appear to be a keypad, meaning a code is needed to open the doors. They move towards the doorway and examine the keypad.  
Laura then speaks to LaFontaine, “LaF, we have a keypad here and a big door. Any ideas?”  
“Errr…hold on.” LaFontaine says and there is a long pause and then, “Um okay, does the keypad have any markings on it, symbols, perhaps a brand?”  
Laura leans in and looks at it, “Um…seems to be Trilogy brand, I think.”  
“Trilogy, hold on.” LaFontaine says and they hear typing sounds over the radio, “Okay, there should be two screws, one near the top, one near the bottom, take a Phillip’s head screwdriver and…”  
“I don’t have a screwdriver.” Laura says.  
“What do you mean you don’t have a screwdriver? How do you not have a screwdriver?” LaFontaine asks.  
“I don’t have a screwdriver. What, do you think I carry a screwdriver around with me everywhere I go? Do you carry a screwdriver around everywhere you go?” Laura asks.  
“Yes.” LaFontaine says.  
“Right, of course you do.” Laura says, “Well, I don’t know what you want me to do I don’t…” She trails off as a screwdriver is held out to her.  
“Here bro, I have a screwdriver.” Kirsch says.  
Laura looks at him slightly stunned for a moment and then takes it from him, “Thanks Kirsch.”  
“No problem bro.” Kirsch says with a smile.   
Laura then looks back over at him, “Kirsch, watch the hallway, make sure no one is coming down here.”  
“Yes, Little L.” Kirsch says and spins around to face down the hallway.  
Laura then bends over the keypad and looks for the screws. She finds them and begins to unscrew it. After about five minutes both are unscrewed.  
“Okay, now what?” Laura asks.  
“Remove the top plate.” LaFontaine says and Laura does so.  
“Okay.” Laura says looking into the inner workings of the keypad and seeing lots of wiring.  
“You should see a bunch of wiring. One of the wires attached near the top should be green.” LaFontaine says, “Cut that one…you do have a knife right?”  
“Yes, I have a knife.” Laura says pulling out said knife and looking at the cables. She frowns, “Uh…LaF… they’re all green.”  
“What do you mean they’re all green?” LaFontaine asks.  
“All the wires inside this device are green.” Laura says.  
“Huh.” LaFontaine says and then sounds like they’re reading something out loud, “Now that you have the keypad open, cut the topmost green wire.”  
“LaF, are you reading an online instruction manual on how to get past a security keypad?” Laura asks, “Are you online looking at some help site?”  
“Yes.” LaFontaine says after a pause, “What did you think I just happened to have the knowledge of how to do this already in my head?”  
“Well…yeah.” Laura says with a shrug.  
“I’m brilliant, but not an encyclopedia.” LaFontaine says with a laugh, “Reddit is being very helpful with the whole breaking into secure facility thing.”  
“Of course.” Laura says, shaking her head with a smile, but then becomes more serious once again, “So…about the whole green wire thing?”  
“All it says is cut the topmost green wire. I figured that meant there was only one green wire…but I guess not.” LaFontaine says.  
“Topmost green wire?” Laura asks and LaFontaine confirms. Laura then looks at what she hopes is the topmost green wire, “Alright…well…here we go.” She sticks the knife underneath he wire and pulls up. The wire snaps and Laura flinches away from the door, expecting an attack or an alarm or something. But instead the door makes a buzzing noise and then pops open a little bit.   
Kirsch looks back at her and grins, “It worked!”  
Laura grins back and then says, “LaF, I love you.”  
“Hey, whoa, I’m taken…and so are you…but I’m very flattered.” LaFontaine says, “Now go get your girl.”


	59. Sisters

Back in Lafontaine and Perry’s room

 

LaFontaine is on their computer and speaking to Laura and the others over the radio. Perry is sitting on her bed next to Danny, feeling somewhat useless and definitely helpless as she looks at her injured friend. Danny has stirred a couple of times since the others left and woke up for a few seconds once, but not long enough for any sort of conversation.  
There’s not much Perry can do for Danny at this point, but keep her comfortable and wait. She dabs sweat off Danny’s brow and then turns to the file folder Laura had handed her before she left. Laura had apparently taken it from the pits below the Lustig and said she felt it was somehow important. Laura hadn’t had time to look through it before going off to rescue Carmilla, so instead she’d given it to Perry to read through.  
Perry picks up the folder and reads the name at the top out loud, “Sarah Zamloch.”  
“Hmm?” LaFontaine says turning to Perry.  
“Nothing honey, just…” Perry pauses, “Does that name mean anything to you?”  
“Sarah Zamloch?” LaFontaine asks and shakes their head, “Nope.” They turn back to the computer screens.  
Perry looks down at the name with a frown, wracking her brain where she’s heard the name before. She’d definitely seen it recently, on some paper or other, but she couldn’t remember what for.  
She flips open the folder and begins to read. At first it appears to be a typical report about a missing student, but there are some things that don’t sit well with her, seem alarmingly familiar. Like the fact that Sarah had been behaving strangely days prior to her disappearance. Her sister had reported excessive giddiness and a desire to party, which her sister felt was very unusual for Sarah. Or that prior to that she had disappeared for a few days and then returned without any knowledge of what had happened.  
Perry continued to read and then her eyes widened. Apparently the sister believed that Sarah’s disappearance was somehow related to Sarah’s girlfriend at the time, one Millarca Karnstein. The sister insisted that Millarca was somehow involved, but in the report it seemed to indicate that no one thought this was true. Well, more like the Dean made sure people believed it wasn’t.  
The report ends inconclusively, with Sarah still missing and no one knowing what happened to her. Perry continues to look through the file and finds several more papers crammed in behind the initial report. She reads through and finds more reports, but these ones focus on Sarah’s sister, Viktoria.   
After Sarah’s disappearance, Viktoria got into quite a bit of trouble, being found in restricted areas, breaking into dorms, stealing from the administration buildings and the library, being in the library after hours, as well as harassing anyone she believed was involved in her sister’s disappearance. She even got into a fist fight with Millarca…which ended up with Viktoria in the emergency room. But she still didn’t stop after that.   
Perry found all manner of formal complaints filed to the school, angry letters, and evidence stacking up against Millarca. When that seemed to lead nowhere it appeared Viktoria believed the school was somehow involved, which they were, and began to threaten them with exposure. There was another hospital report filed a week after that where Viktoria had been brought into the emergency room severely anemic.  
After that the letters stop and there are just too more pieces of paper. A handwritten note, written by who Perry assumes is Viktoria, threatening that the school will pay unless her sister is returned. And then an accident report , where the Lustig was set on fire and several students died, one of them believed to be Viktoria, though a body was never found.  
Perry frowns even more, wondering why Laura felt the need to grab this file in particular. She wonders how many similar files are locked away in the Lustig or other secret locations, with girl after girl missing, and stories of distraught friends and family members. But out of all the files, Laura grabbed this one. Why? And why did the name Zamloch sound so familiar.   
Perry stands up and is about to walk over to LaFontaine to show them the file when something slips out between the papers in the folder and flutters down to the floor. Perry bends down to pick it up and reads the back where she sees someone has handwritten: 1984, Sarah and Viktoria Zamloch. Picture provided by Viktoria Zamloch in missing person’s report . She flips the picture over and examines the it.   
The picture is of two girls with arms wrapped around one another, they appear to be sisters. The girl on the left looks to be the older of the two, probably about twenty, with light brown hair and bright blue eyes. Perry assumes this is Sarah. Perry’s eyes drift over to the right to see a girl only a couple of years younger. Her hair is a dirty blond and she has sharp blue eyes. Her features are sharper than her sister’s and she looks to be more serious, but in the picture she is smiling and seems happy.   
They both seem familiar, but Viktoria seems the most familiar. It takes Perry a moment of studying the picture before it clicks in her head.   
“Oh my god!” Perry says, “Oh dear! Oh dear!”   
LaFontaine whips around to face her, eyes looking to Danny first concerned. When they see Danny is fine they look back at Perry, though still concerned, “Perr, what is it? What’s wrong?”  
“I know why the name Sarah Zamloch sounded so familiar!” Perry shouts.  
“What? Why?” LaFontaine asks.  
“Sarah Zamloch was the Dean’s sister!” Perry shouts and LaFontaine’s eyes go wide.  
Behind them, Danny stirs and her eyes flutter open.

 

Chem Labs, lower levels

Carmilla is racing through the lower levels of the Chemistry Labs as fast as her partially human legs can carry her. But the place is larger than she expected and basically a labyrinth. She’s gone down several dead ends and even went up two flights of stairs only to find it didn’t end in an exit, but just a wall. She went up a stairway that went nowhere.  
She turns down another dead end and groans. She hears voices coming from a different hallway. She ducks into the dead end and looks around the corner. She can hear several voices, the sound of boots, and a pair of clacking heels.  
A female voice stands out above the rest, clear and commanding, the Dean.  
“I want you to check on Miss Karnstein and make sure she is still there.” The Dean says, “And make sure she stays there. I don’t care if you have to knock her out, but I do want her alive. I know those fiends have destroyed our force field and broken into this facility, but they will not get my most prized specimen.”  
“Commander Zamloch, isn’t Miss Karnstein a vampire? How dangerous is she?” A soldier to the Dean’s right asks and Carmilla watches as the group turns a corner down the hallway. She notices the soldiers don’t appear to be students, but actual soldiers, most likely from the Dean’s organization.  
“First off Knox, I told you that here I am not Commander Zamloch, I am the Dean. Refer to me as such.” The Dean says, “Secondly, normally Miss Karnstein is very, very dangerous. But by now…” The Dean looks at her watch, “…She should have received her third dose, which means she is currently very much human. Which I believe you can handle, can you not Sergeant Knox? Now go quickly. I have other matters I must attend to.”  
Sergeant Knox nods and then waves his hands, signaling to his men. They then race down the hallway away from the Dean, as the Dean turns around and heads back the way she came.  
Carmilla ducks back behind the hallway as the Dean turns, hoping the Dean didn’t see her. Carmilla suddenly hears a voice inside her head.  
“CARMILLA!” LaFontaine says rather loudly and urgently, “The Dean is Viktoria Zamloch. I repeat, the Dean is Viktoria Zamloch.”  
Carmilla scrunches up her face in confusion and thinks back to LaFontaine, “Uh…who?”  
“Damn it Carmilla.” LaFontaine says, “She’s the sister of one of the girls you ‘lured away’, twenty years ago.”  
Carmilla thinks for a moment and then remembers, she then thinks to LaFontaine, “Oh! Sarah’s sister. Sarah Zamloch. Tall, leggy, talented artist. I liked Sarah.”  
“And yet…” LaFontaine thinks.  
Carmilla’s wistful gaze darkens as she remembers and sighs, “And yet she met the same fate as the others. I did not save her.”  
“And it seems like her sister went berserk after she went missing. Started investigating, then threatening you and the school. You two got into a fist fight apparently…which was probably more of you using her as a punching bag.” LaFontaine says.  
“Oh right.” Carmilla says, “I remember her. She called me a scheming, murderous whore and then threw a punch at me.” Carmilla laughs, “From what I remember she woke up in the hospital three days later.”  
“Carmilla…” LaFontaine warns, “Not funny.”  
Carmilla stifles her laughter in her head and nods, “Right…not cool. Yeah, I remember her. She threatened my mother, can you believe that. The balls on that girl. Will was supposed to have killed her after that, but of course he botched it up. Then there was a fire or something and she died…wait she died. How can she be here if she died?”  
“According to the report they never found her body…so maybe she didn’t die, but instead just left, disappeared, joined the shady secret organization that hunts supernatural creatures…” LaFontaine thinks.  
“And then came here to come after me.” Carmilla thinks and then freezes when she hears clacking footsteps approaching.   
She quickly gets to her feet and looks around the dead end for an escape or somewhere to hide, but there is nothing, no doors, no vents, nothing. She is thoroughly trapped. She spins around and faces the end of the hallway, waiting.  
She hears the clacking heels approaching and a few seconds later the Dean appears around the corner. She locks eyes with Carmilla, and several emotions fly across her face, surprise, anger, disgust, glee.  
“Ah, Miss Karnstein, there you are.” The Dean says, “My men reported that you had disappeared from you room. Made quite a mess in the hallway didn’t you? I liked Dan and John, they were good scientists, the science always came first for them. Such a waste. But what are you doing out of bed my dear. You should be resting. A transformation like yours can take quite a toll on the body. Wouldn’t want you hurting yourself.”  
“Yeah, like hell I believe that.” Carmilla snaps.  
“Ah, there is that language again.” The Dean says taking a step closer and Carmilla takes a step back.  
“You cannot stop me from leaving.” Carmilla snarls, “I may not be at my full strength, but I’m still very much stronger than you. If you don’t let me leave right now I will snap your neck and I will enjoy it.”  
“Oh, I have no doubt you believe that.” The Dean says, “But do you really think I would walk down this hallway by myself if I didn’t have a way to stop you?” She pulls out a strange looking pistol, with three darts loaded into it, “This my dear, is Phase 2. Dose one, two, and three, all lined up, and ready to release into any monster’s system.” She gestures to the darts, “And just one of these will be your third dose. Completely permanent. You may not feel it now, but you are slowly, but surely reverting back to your monstrous state. But not after this.” She says tapping the gun, “Not after your third dose.”  
“I thought Phase 2 was all this.” Carmilla says gesturing to the facility, “Turning supernatural into humans in the lab.”  
“Oh, this is part of Phase 2. The testing part. This is all experimentation.” The Dean says, “Had to make sure it worked. Normally there would be more testing done to make sure it was safe and all that, but it seems you have forced our hand. You and your cronies. We’ve had to move up the time table. Mass production and rapid distribution and all that. By tomorrow, all the supernatural students of this campus will be human…or dead.”  
“You’re sick.” Carmilla says, “I’m sorry about what happened to your sister, I really am, but this is not…”  
“Shut up!” The Dean shrieks, her calm demeanor dissipating in an instant as her face becomes ugly with rage and her eyes become wild, “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You do not get to talk about her! You do not! After what you did to her! After what you did to me! How dare you?” She hisses that last part out.  
“I was under my mother’s thumb at that point. I felt like I was trapped. Like I had to listen to her, there was no other choice. I was wrong. Very, very wrong and for that your sister paid the ultimate price. And I am so sorry for that. So very sorry for all the pain and heartache it caused you. I know sorry isn’t enough, there is nothing that I can ever do that will ever be enough. But I’d like to try. So please, let’s stop this. Stop this madness.” Carmilla says, practically begging.  
“You know when I saw you again, for the first time in twenty years I couldn’t believe it. You hadn’t changed, hadn’t aged a day. I mean, I knew you were a vampire and I knew you wouldn’t age, but somehow in my mind I thought you’d be different. But there you were, standing there without a care for anyone or anything, like you were twenty years ago. And I had heard the stories, of how you’d overthrown your mother. Of how you’d saved the campus twice and the former Dean. And so when I looked at you, I expected you to be different because they said you had changed. But you weren’t different. You aren’t different. You’re the same person you were twenty years ago. The same person who preys on innocent girls and drinks the blood of her victims. The same scheming, murderous whore who killed my sister. So when you stand there with that pleading look on your face, I know it’s all a farce because I know how talented an actress you are. You’ve fooled hundreds of girls, thousands of people time and time again into believing you cared about them, cared about anyone. But you and I both know the truth and the truth is, the moment you became a vampire all those hundreds of years ago, you lost your soul and you are incapable of caring about anyone, but yourself.”  
“It’s not true.” Carmilla says shaking her head, “I have changed. And I do care.”  
“I don’t believe you.” The Dean says and fires the gun.


	60. Rescue and Recovery

The Dean fires the weapon and Carmilla, despite being weakened, easily dodges the darts. She ducks under the projectiles and comes up swinging. She cracks the Dean across the face and the Dean lands flat on her back. However, she quickly rolls back up onto her feet, despite being in heels.  
She goes to fire again, but Carmilla is already charging at her. This time Carmilla drops low and sweeps the Dean’s feet out from under her. She then leaps forward in an attempt to land on top of the Dean and pin her to the floor, but the Dean kicks out, hitting Carmilla in the stomach. Carmilla feels the air leave her lungs and she flops to the floor, winded, now suddenly remembering how much this hurt.  
The Dean is on her feet and fires the gun again, but Carmilla rolls away and the three darts stick in the ground where Carmilla was seconds before. Carmilla then pushes up onto her feet and dodges another round of darts. She smashes the Dean in the face with an elbow and feels the Dean’s nose crack from the force. Blood spurts all over the place and Carmilla feels her stomach roll.  
She looks away from the blood and the Dean notices. She stumbles forward, clutching her nose in one hand, gun in the other and fires. Carmilla winches, waiting for the darts to puncture her flesh when she instead hears a clicking noise. She looks up and sees the Dean staring at the gun in confusion and pulling the trigger a few more times, yielding the same clicking noise.  
“Out of darts I see.” Carmilla says grinning and wrenches the gun out of the Dean’s hand. She throws it down the hall and takes another swing at the woman. This one the Dean manages to dodge and the Dean grabs a canister at her belt. She throws it to the ground and steam comes pouring out. Carmilla leaps back, but some of the steam manages to touch her skin. She expects it to burn like it did the last time she was exposed to holy water in steam form, but instead it just gives her an unpleasant tingling sensation.   
She grins as she races forward, but then realizes her mistake as she sees the Dean pointing a taser at her. The steam was a distraction.   
The Dean fires the taser and the prongs hit Carmilla square in the chest. She feels pain shoot through her entire body and all her muscles lock up. She drops to the floor like a rock.

Under the Chem Lab, lower levels

Laura and Kirsch have been walking around the lower levels for at least fifteen minutes and they still have no idea where Carmilla is.  
“LaF! You said there was a split up ahead! I don’t see a split. I see a path to the left.” Laura hisses into her radio.  
“Err…hold on.” LaFontaine says, “The plans here definitely say a split and…you’re supposed to take the right split. Crap.”  
“Well, I guess we’re going left then.” Laura says and heads towards the left.  
“No wait…left is right…I mean left is correct. Sorry, the split is up ahead.” LaFontaine says and Laura groans. They go left and then take the right fork up ahead.   
“Okay, I think where Carmilla was describing is around the corner.” LaFontaine says, “To the right.”  
“What is that smell?” Kirsch asks and Laura nearly gags when she smells it too.  
“Smells like…like bodies.” Laura says and suddenly feels panicked. She rushes forward and races around the corner. Her feet hit a pool of blood and she losing her footing, slipping back and landing on her butt in the middle of the blood. She bicycles her legs backward away from the blood and gore, her eyes wide as she stares at the scene before her.  
Kirsch joins her a second later and then shouts and covers his eyes, “Oh god!”  
Laura can’t take her eyes off what’s in front of her. What she thinks might have once been two men, are now splattered and sprayed across nearly every surface of the hallway. Blood and gore drips from the ceiling, runs down the walls, and pools along the floor. It is a horrendous sight and she wonders what could have done this.  
She then remembers her girlfriend and the bits and pieces of stories she’s heard over the last year and half about Carmilla’s exploits. Saigon comes to mind. Plus, she did see her eviscerate an evil Mrs. Klaus nearly a year ago. But this was on a whole other level. The other death she saw, was lazy, apathetic, and quick. She just wanted to be done. This was angry and brutal. She wanted these men to suffer. For the first time in her life, Laura realized what it meant to be dating a vampire. She caught a glimpse of what Carmilla was like before she met her.  
When she gained her composure or as much of it as she could, she stood up and spied a stretcher with a sheet over it. Her heart rate skyrocketed once again as she feared the worst. She leapt forward and wrenched the sheet off. It wasn’t Carmilla.  
Laura recognized her as the girl who Carmilla had asked her to save. Bianca was her name. Laura felt an overwhelming sadness come over her. She had tried to save her, thought she had saved her. She had been injured pretty badly sure, but Laura thought that bringing her to the hospital saved her life. But she was wrong and the poor girl was dead because of her.  
Laura let out a deep sigh as she felt tears well up in her eyes. She turned away from the stretcher quickly, placing the sheet back over the body.  
“Come on Kirsch, let’s go.” Laura says in a choked voice, “Carmilla isn’t here.”  
“Sure bro.” Kirsch says and follows after her, “But where do we go?”  
“I don’t know.” Laura says shaking her head, “The…bodies look relatively…fresh, so I think she’s still down here somewhere, but where I have…”  
She’s cut off by the sound of gunfire.  
“Let’s move.” Laura says and races towards where she thinks she heard the sound. She continues to hear more shots fired and begins to sprint full tilt towards it. She draws her taser out as she runs and hears another round of gunfire just up ahead.   
There’s also the distinctive sound of fighting and then a hissing noise like gas being released. Laura spies steam seeping out around the corner up ahead and hears a strangled yell that sounds like Carmilla.  
Laura barrels around the corner and points her weapon at the Dean who is retrieving some kind of strange weapon pistol that was lying on the floor. Her other hand is on a taser, sending multiple jolts into the prongs stuck in Carmilla.  
She picks up the pistol and begins to reload it skillfully with one hand. She spots Laura staring at her, wide eyed, taser out.  
“Ah! Miss Hollis!” The Dean says with a smile, “So glad you could join us. Perfect timing. I suppose you’ll enjoy this almost as much as I will.” She holds out the gun for Laura to take, “Would you like to do the honors?”  
Laura smiles at the Dean and says, “Gladly.” She then fires her taser at the Dean, the two prongs sticking into the woman’s gut. The woman looks surprised for a second and then collapsing to the ground.   
Laura races forward with Kirsch on her heels. She rips the prongs out of Carmilla, probably a little too roughly, and holds her head in her hands.  
“Carm…Carm…oh god…Carm…” Laura says as she looks at her unconscious girlfriend.   
Carmilla makes a grunting noise and forces her eyes open. She blinks a few times and then smiles when she sees Laura, “Cupcake.” She says in a gruff, almost sleepy tone.  
“Oh thank god you’re okay.” Laura says, leaning forward and kissing Carmilla on the forehead, “How are you feeling?”  
“Bad.” Carmilla says as she slowly tries to get to her feet. Laura helps her up when she looks like she’s having trouble.  
“Do you think you can walk out of here?” Laura asks, seeing how unsteady Carmilla seems on her feet.  
Carmilla nods, “Of course I can.” She takes one step and feels her leg collapse underneath her, unable to hold her weight. Laura throws her shoulder underneath her and is able to keep her up, “Or not.” She grumbles, “Just give me a second to start feeling my legs again.”  
“Carm, we really have to get out of here, like now.” Laura says feeling bad about rushing her. She thinks for a moment and then says, “Okay, don’t hate me.”  
“I could never hate you, cutie.” Carmilla says and kisses Laura quickly.  
“Alright, well keep that in mind.” Laura says and then frowns, “I can’t carry you.”  
“I know that.” Carmilla says.  
“But there is someone here who can.” Laura says, looking at her girlfriend nervously.  
“Who?” Carmilla asks and then spies Kirsch for the first time, “Oh, no. No way. Nope.” She tries to walk again and collapses forward once more.  
“Carm….”Laura says.  
“I got his Cupake. Its fine…I just…” Carmilla trails off and then let’s out a long sigh. She then looks over at Kirsch, “If you said one word about this meathead I will tear our your guts and then feed them to you.”  
Kirsch gulps and then does the zipped lip motion. He then holds out his arms and Carmilla groans.  
“I am going to smell like axe body spray and cheap beer for a week.” She says as Laura helps her forward. Kirsch then gently scoops her up into his arms.  
“Sorry Carm.” Laura says looking guilty.  
“I’ll be gentle.” Kirsch says and Carmilla punches him in the arm. He hisses at the pain.  
“My hero.” Carmilla snaps and then folds her arms, “Let’s just get out of here before someone sees me like this.”  
They make their way down the hallway before they hear something behind them. Laura spins around to see the Dean stirring. She looks up at them and scowls.  
“You’re making a huge mistake Hollis.” The Dean rasps out as she struggles to get to her feet, “Huge mistake.” Her eyes then lock onto Carmilla, “She loved you, you know. She loved you so much. I never understood it. I always thought you were kind of a jerk. But she was in love and didn’t care what I thought. She loved you and you killed her. You kill…”   
“Oh, shut up.” Laura says and pulls the trigger on her taser again, causing the Dean to convulse and collapse again, “Let’s get the hell out of here.” Laura says turning back towards the others. They nod and the three of them make their way back towards the exit.


	61. Get the band back together

Perry and LaFontaine’s room

Danny woke up with a start. Sitting bolt upright and then looking around the room in confusion. She blinks a few times as if she couldn’t quite process where she was or how she had gotten there.  
Perry comes rushing over and almost reached for Danny’s right hand, but then pulled her hand away. LaFontaine looks concerned, but also distracted as they are having a mental conversation at the same time.  
“Danny.” Perry says, “Look at me. Are you alright?”   
Danny blinks at her, sweat dripping, hair a mess across her face. She then nods and reaches up to brush the hair out of her eyes, “I…” She trails off when her arm comes into view, “What…” She says as she looks at her arm in confusion, “I…don’t…what’s going on…I don’t…” She continues to stare at what remains of her arm and then looks at her left arm which is complete. She looks back at her right arm and then at her left. Her eyes widen and the looks completely shocked. She looks up at Perry and LaFontaine and then back at her arms. She lets out an awkward, almost incredulous laugh, “This…this is weird.” She looks back over to Perry and says, “Am I…am I dreaming? Is this a dream?” She asks and sees the tears beginning to slide down Perry’s face.  
“Oh Danny.” Perry says and leans in to hug her. Danny doesn’t hug her back though, just sort of sits there. Perry pulls back and looks at Danny concerned.  
“This…this is real…” Danny says staring at her arm, “I…I don’t understand.” She then lifts her head and looks around the room, “Where’s Gwen? Why isn’t she here? Where are the others? What’s going on? What happened?” The words pour out of her mouth, more and more desperate each second.  
“Danny, hold on. One thing at a time.” Perry says, “Gwen and the others aren’t here because they’re rescuing Carmilla. LaFontaine is directing them through the Chem labs now as we speak. And as to what happened….do you…um…what’s the last thing you remember honey?”  
“I…” Danny begins and then thinks, “We were in the tunnels below the Lustig. We came to a room with computers and a big symbol on the floor. There was another room.” She pauses as she tries to remember, “Yes, and then there was a force field and laser guns. And…Lophiliformes! Oh my god, Lophiliformes is alive! Is it loose? Did is escape? Is everyone okay?”  
“Danny, Lophiliformes isn’t alive…anymore.” LaFontaine says, “Lophiliformes is dead.”  
“Oh…oh good.” Danny says relaxing, “How did it die? Last time I saw it I was plugging those cables back in with the countdown going off and…” She stops as she suddenly remembers, jumping backwards as she remembers the pain of the laser net slicing through her arm, “Ah, oh, shit, shit. Oh shit. I’m so stupid. I’m so stupid. Oh shit. I can’t believe…I…and the net…and this is real. This is really happening. This is real. Oh my god, oh my god.” Danny begins to hyperventilate, “Oh…my…god…”  
“Danny, please, try and calm down.” Perry says, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Danny, take a deep breath for me. Slow and steady.”  
Danny is still hyperventilating, “I’m trying.” She says in between breaths.  
“Please, Danny, breathe with me.” Perry says, “In and out.”  
Danny begins to breathe slower, but there is panic still in her eyes, “Where is Gwen? Where is Gwen? Where is she?”  
“She’s on her way back right now.” LaFontaine says, “She should be here…”  
The door slams open and Gwen comes rushing into the room first, “We have to go. We have to go now. We don’t have much…” She stops when she sees Danny awake and then lunges towards her. She wraps Danny up in a tight hug, knocking her back down onto the bed.  
“Oh my god, you’re awake. You’re okay.” Gwen says and begins to kiss her n between speaking, “When LaF said you were hurt I thought…I thought the worst. And then you wouldn’t wake up and I was going crazy. And I’m sorry I wasn’t here. But I’m so glad you’re awake. I’m so glad you’re okay.” She continues to kiss her. She then stops herself and looks down at Danny from her position practically lying on top of her, “Um…actually…are you okay? Oh man, I just jumped on you and I didn’t even…” She gets off of her or tries to, but Danny grabs her shirt with her left hand and pulls her back down.  
“You’re not going anywhere babe.” Danny says with a grin and kisses Gwen back. They break apart for a second and Gwen grins.   
“You’re okay, aren’t you?” Gwen asks, “I mean I know you’re not…okay, but…”  
“I’m better, now that you’re here.” Danny says, “And the rest of it…I’ll deal.”  
“You mean we’ll deal.” Gwen says, “We’re in this together, you hear me pumpkin, we’re in this together. Cause you won’t get rid of me easily.” She smirks and then kisses Danny again.  
Laura rushes in next and then sees Gwen on top of Danny and blushes, turning away.  
Kirsch comes in with Carmilla still in his arms as her legs were still giving her difficulty and it was faster for him just to carry her.  
Carmilla spies the two and says, “Ugh, gross. Get a room.”  
Gwen looks up and scowls at her, “Show some compassion fangface.” She then looks down at Danny, “Hey, want to see something hilarious.” She sits back and allows Danny to sit up. She points at Carmilla still in Kirsch’s arms.  
Danny looks over and bursts out laughing when she sees Carmilla cradled in Kirsch’s arms. She laughs so hard she doubles over and has to clutch her gut.  
“Oh my god, it hurts. It hurts so bad.” Danny says continuing to laugh. The others laugh too, although Laura has the decency to cover her mouth and try and stifle her laughter.  
“Yeah, yuck it up big red while you can.” Carmilla says pointing at her, “Because when I’m back to myself and you’ve recovered from whatever injuries you got in the…” She trails off when she finally sees Danny’s arm. The whole room goes silent. Carmilla looks almost sick when she sees her arm.  
“I…” Carmilla begins, “I didn’t mean…”  
“Hey, we both know I can take you with one arm tied behind my back.” Danny says after a long pause, a smirk forming on her lips, “With my good hand tied behind my back.” She slips her left hand behind her and raises the stump of her right hand for everyone to see.  
Everyone in the room begins to laugh, even Carmilla, and the tension, at least for now, seems to have dissipated.  
“Now put me down you big ape.” Carmilla says slapping Kirsch on the arm and he lowers her down until she’s in a standing position. She’s still a bit shaky, so Laura stands next to her, arm wrapped around her waist for support.   
“Now what?” LaFontaine asks and looks to Gwen, “You were saying we have to go?”  
“We do, like right now.” Gwen says.  
Laura nods in agreement, “We knocked the Dean out, but she won’t be out for long and she’ll be hunting for us. This will be one of the first places she looks.”  
“She’s going to use Phase 2.” Carmilla says and those who are not up to speed look at her confused, “It’s a drug made from the venom of the leviathan in the library. When injected into supernatural creatures it turns them human temporarily or makes them more human I suppose. The Dean has been using it to experiment on students, me being one of them.” Everyone looks at her concerned, “I’m not up to my former self, but I’m slowly turning back. I can feel it even now. But that’s not important. What’s important is that she’s decided to enact the second part of Phase 2, like right now. She’s create weapons to deploy the drug. She’s probably arming her bloody shock troops right now and there’s a bull’s-eye on every supernatural students head.”  
“You said the drug was temporary?” Gwen asks, “I mean that’s bad, but not like…super villain bad.”  
“It’s temporary unless you receive three doses of it.” Carmilla says, “And what’s worse, it doesn’t always work. Meaning, that sometimes the transformation is too much and the person doesn’t make it, they die.”  
“And there’s the super villain bad.” Gwen says sighing, “So how do we stop her?”  
“Do you think the organization knows about this?” Perry asks, “I mean, I know we don’t like them, but this…this seems…out of character for them.”  
“Turning supernatural creatures human…probably not.” Laura says, “But letting those students die. Firebombing your own people. Letting monsters run loose killing students. That is out of character for them. If they knew what she was doing here, she’d be kicked out in a heartbeat.”  
“I may be able to do something about that.” LaFontaine says and begins to type away on their computer.  
“That will help.” Carmilla says, “But it won’t be enough. We need to stop her, right now.”  
“We need to gather everyone.” Danny says, “Everyone who we think might help. SPATULA, the summer society, the Zetas, all of Bianca’s protestors. Everyone. We need to somehow get to her supply chain and cut it off. We need to protect those supernatural students who are not involved and stop any weapon toting mediators. And we need to find her and detain her. Without a commander, her soldiers won’t know what to do and her plan will collapse.”  
“Her supply chain is the leviathan in the library.” Carmilla says, “I know where that is. I can lead a squadron and stop whatever is happening down there.”  
“I’m coming with you.” Laura says.  
“No, its too dangerous.” Carmilla says.  
“Carmilla, we’ve spent far too much of this semester apart. I am not letting you out of my sight again.” Laura says definitively.  
“Fine, but if you die I will be very, very upset.” Carmilla says.  
“Likewise.” Laura replies.  
“I call punching the Dean in the face.” Gwen says raising her hand, “Her and I have some unfinished business.” She cracks her knuckles.  
“Well, then I guess Gwen and I will go after the Dean.” Danny says.  
Gwen looks at her concerned, “Babe, are you sure you’re up for it?”  
Danny raises her left arm, “I can still swing a sword, can’t I?” She swings her arm to demonstrate.  
“I don’t know.” Gwen says.  
“I can do this.” Danny says and Gwen looks her in the eyes.  
“Alright, but I’ll hold you to that.” Gwen says and gets up off the bed.  
“Once I’m finished with this, Perry, Kirsch , and I can lead the charge against the mediators.” LaFontaine says, “Or at least organize all those who will lead the charge.”  
“I can for sure get the Zetas to help.” Kirsch says with a grin.  
“Before we go after the Dean, we’ll get the summer society.” Danny says.  
“Okay, we have a sort of plan. Let’s go.” Laura says.  
“Hold on.” LaFontaine says and then punctuates that with a final click of their mouse, “Alright.” They turn around and hand something to Laura, “I know you’ve been all upgraded and updated weapons-wise, but I have a feeling you’re going to need this.” They pull their hand away and they all see a camera in Laura’s hand, “Can you believe you haven’t posted a video in nearly four months.”  
Laura stares at the camera in her hand, somewhat stunned by this revelation, “It’s been far too long.”  
“When was the last time all seven of us were in the same room together?” LaFontaine asks, “Making plans and saving the day?”  
They all think for a moment and then Carmilla says, “Far too long.”


	62. A little light before the dark

Outside the dorms

 

The group steps outside and the alarm starts blaring. Everyone who is outside begins to make their way to the auditorium for a town hall meeting.  
“Everyone is going there.” Carmilla says scowling, “Everyone is just going to walk right in and she’s just going to line them up and shoot them. Like shooting fish in a barrel.”  
“We can’t let that happen.” Laura says, “Change of plans, Danny, Kirsch, gather up the Summer Society and the Zetas now. Perry, get all the wolves and the panthers together. LaF, Gwen, head over to the auditorium and keep watch, make sure nothing happens until the others get there.”  
“And where are you headed?” Gwen asks.  
“Library. The same as before.” Laura says, “You all have your radios? Right?” They all nod, “Keep us updated on what’s going on.”  
The group splits.

Library, upper levels

Carmilla and Laura make their way through the upper levels of the library and head towards the basement door.  
Carmilla is noticeably quiet as they walk together.  
Laura looks over at her concerned, “Are you okay? Are you still hurt?”  
Carmilla looks up at her as if she was lost in thought, she shakes her head, “No. I’m fine. I’m still you know, weak and human-like.” She smirks, “But able to walk and move about fine.”  
“Then what’s up?” Laura asks, linking her hand with Carmilla’s as they walk and rubbing circles along it with her thumb.  
Carmilla sighs, “All of this is my fault, you know?”  
“What is?” Laura asks confused.  
“This, all of this.” Carmilla gestures in a wide arc, “The Dean is doing this because of what I did to her sister twenty years ago. What I did to her twenty years ago. If it wasn’t for me, none of this would be happening.”  
Laura frowns and shakes her head, “One, you’re right. If it wasn’t for you none of this would be happening. You know why? Because we’d all be dead if it weren’t for you. Two, this is not your fault. If anything it’s my fault.”  
“Your fault?” Carmilla asks, “How is this your fault?”  
“Because I was stupid and headstrong and decided to try this all on my own. If I had just come back to campus and we’d worked on this together, maybe it wouldn’t have gotten this far.” Laura says sadly, “Maybe those students who are dead would still be alive. You’d still be a vampire. And Danny…”  
She trails off.  
“Oh Laura.” Carmilla says and places a hand on her face, “You can’t blame yourself for that, for any of this.”  
There’s a crackling noise and then LaFontaine speaks, “If anything it’s my fault.”  
“What, how is it your fault?” Carmilla and Laura say at the same time.  
“It isn’t, but I thought that was what we were doing. Blaming people whose fault its not.” LaFontaine, “Like a game.”  
“Well then, it must be my fault.” Gwen says over the radio.  
“No, pretty sure its mine.” Danny says.  
“No way bros, its totally mine.” Kirsch says.  
“Well I for one would like to say, that I know it is not my fault.” Perry says and everybody laughs.  
“Okay guys, we get it.” Laura says, “We’re being stupid blaming ourselves.  
“You are being stupid.” LaFontaine says, “And your radio is on, so we all heard all that stupidity leaking through the airwaves.” The two can almost hear the grin in their voice, “So stop blaming yourselves. Carmilla, perhaps you had a hand in this twenty years ago, but you are not the same person you were then and losing her sister does not excuse the Dean of the things she has done in her name. Besides, we all know your tragic backstory and we know why you did the things you did. Laura, not everything is your fault or responsibility. We have no idea what would have happened if you decided not to become a secret agent. For all we know, we could be much worse off. Who knows and there is no point in speculating about it. So shut up and get back to work. We have a campus to save you idiot.”   
Carmilla actually laughs and says, “Sometimes I actually like them. Don’t tell.”  
“Heard that.” LaFontaine says, “Radio is still on dumbass.”  
“But most of the time I just really want to kill them.” Carmilla snarls.  
“Too late, we all know who your favorite is now.” LaFontaine sings.  
“Well, its quickly becoming not you.” Carmilla snaps.  
“So it is me!” LaFontaine says.  
“You are so dead.” Carmilla says.  
“Love you too Elvira.” LaFontaine says and a laugh can be heard.  
“I’m insulted, I thought I was your favorite.” Gwen whines.  
“She hates your songs, how could you be her favorite?” LaFontaine asks.  
“She loves my songs, but like secretly. She pretends to not like them and hides her affections by insulting me constantly. It’s how she says I love you.” Gwen says.  
“Aw man, I always thought she had a kind of you know, soft spot for me.” Kirsch says, “She always gives me cute nicknames.”  
“Like chicken brain? Or ape man? Or dog breath?” Danny offers.  
“Excuse me, I think dog breath is mine.” Gwen says.  
“Sorry babe, you’re right, I’m pretty sure that’s reserved for you.” Danny says, “Just like Amazon, Xena, Clifford, and Big Red are reserved for me. Which I have to say, are not all bad. Who wouldn’t want to be compared to Xena?”  
“Ha, I knew it!” Laura says and laughs.  
“Well, I’m pretty sure I’m her favorite.” Perry says, “She always eats my baked goods. I think that trumps anything else.”  
“No way, songs are better than cookies.” Gwen says.  
“What, are you crazy, baked goods wins every time.” Laura says.  
“She isn’t materialistic.” LaFontaine says, “She doesn’t want things. She wants someone she can connect with on a sarcastic level. That is how she and I bond.”  
“She’s hot, I’m hot. It just works.” Kirsch says.  
“Shut up Kirsch.” Danny says.  
“Make me.” Kirsch says back.  
“Ooh, good come back, you got me there.” Danny says.  
“Sarcasm is not an admirable quality sweetie.” Perry says.  
“Sure it is.” LaFontaine says.  
“She’s more sardonic than sarcastic though.” Gwen says and everyone groans, “What?”  
Laura laughs and Carmilla groans.  
“You guys are all children.” Carmilla snaps, “And you all need to shut up.”  
“Besides, I know who her favorite is.” Laura says and leans in to kiss Carmilla on the lips. Carmilla kisses her back.  
“Yeah cupcake, you’re my favorite.” Carmilla says and kisses her again. Several gagging noises can be heard over the radio and Carmilla snarls. They quickly shut up.  
There’s a pause and then LaFontaine says, “See, she called me cupcake, totally her favorite.”   
“One morning you’re going to wake up on fire.” Carmilla snaps.  
LaFontaine shrugs, “What else is new?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was intended to be a more serious chapter, but sometimes that just doesn’t happen and I wanted to write a section where its just them goofing around. I can just picture them all, walking to their respective locations, preparing for the worst, and just needing to let out the tension of the situation.


	63. Riddles

Library, lower levels

Carmilla and Laura sprint through a doorway. As soon as Laura is through they slam the door closed and lean up against it. A loud buzzing noise is coming from behind the door and after a moment they feel several hundred small things slam into it. The buzzing dies down moments later.  
The two stand there, leaning against the door, attempting to regain their breath. Laura is breathing hard and looks over at Carmilla and is surprised to see her grinning.  
“What are you smiling about?” Laura asks, a grin forming on her own lips, “We just got chased by a bunch of angry bees.”  
Carmilla shakes her head, “For the first time in a very long time, I feel alive. And I don’t mean in the metaphorical sense. Perhaps I don’t have blood pumping through my veins, but I feel my lungs strain against my chest, I feel my throat burn, I feel the adrenaline pouring through me, making me feel on edge and alert.”  
“And that’s a good thing?” Laura asks confused.  
“Yes and no.” Carmilla says, “Don’t get me wrong, cupcake, I enjoy being a vampire. There is a freedom to it that is hard to explain. You have less to worry about and more time to do things. Your life lacks a desperation that being human gives you. But sometimes, that human desperation for life, for living, for cramming everything in, in your short, brutal lives, it gives you something that as a vampire you lose.”  
“I think I get it.” Laura says.  
“It’s been a long time since I’ve feared for my life.” Carmilla says, “Feared for your life, creampuff sure. You’re so small and fragile and so prone to getting into trouble.” She leans in and pecks Laura on the lips.  
“Gee thanks.” Laura says, smiling back at her.  
“But my own life? I can’t remember the last time I’ve feared losing it.” Carmilla says, “Not really. It’s a little exhilarating actually.”  
“You’re crazy.” Laura says shaking her head, “You know that.”  
“Crazy about you, sweetheart.” Carmilla says and kisses Laura again.  
Once they pull apart Laura shakes her head, “That was bad.” She laughs.  
Carmilla gets to her feet and stumbles a bit, “Ow, well there are parts of this I do not miss. Like being sore and having tired legs.”  
“Do you need me to carry you?” Laura asks mockingly.  
“No Laura, I can walk just fine. You just make me weak in the knees is all.” Carmilla says and Laura groans, but smiles just the same.  
Laura grabs Carmilla’s hand and looks her in the eyes, there’s desperation in her eyes as she says, “I’ve missed you, so much.”  
Carmilla smiles lazily at her and says, “You too, Laura. More than you could ever know.”  
They kiss, deeply and passionately. Carmilla can’t help, but notice that Laura’s lips taste different right now, when they breathe they breathe together, as one, and that desperation in everything humans do, she can feel it in both their kisses now, like a clock ticking in the background, counting down to an end. She can hear that clock more clearly than she has in decades and although it scares her, it makes her cherish these moments all the more.  
They part and look into each other’s eyes, “I love you.” They say at the same time and grin like idiots at each other.  
Finally they separate enough to bring themselves back to reality, “You ready to continue, cutie?”  
“Let’s go.” Laura says and they walk down the empty, cobwebbed filled hallway towards the next room.  
The door in front of them is large, wooden, and has Egyptian hieroglyphics carved into it.  
“Well this can’t be good.” Carmilla says, but reaches for the door handle anyway. She opens the door into a medium sized square room. There is another wooden door across from theirs.  
Carmilla looks back at Laura and then takes a step inside. Laura hesitates for a moment, but follows after her.  
The two walk towards the other door, but after only a few steps into the room two stone slabs slam down, one over the door behind them and one over the door in front. A moment later something in the wall to their left starts to move and a statue begins to meld out of the stone. The statue comes about half way out of the wall and then stops. They can see that it is a sphinx.  
“This better not be what I think this is.” Carmilla grumbles.  
The sphinx opens its mouth and blinks a few times.  
“Here we go.” Carmilla says.  
The sphinx looks over at them and then a sonorous voice comes out of it, “Answer these riddles four and you may enter through any door. But fail to answer these riddles true, and nothing will be left of you.”  
“For fuck’s sake!” Carmilla snaps, “Really? Really? A riddle sphinx. Way to be cliché.”  
“Hey, I’m just doing my job here lady. You don’t have to be rude.” The sphinx says, sounding hurt.  
“Oh and a sensitive sphinx, perfect.” Carmilla says, “Well then, let’s go. Let’s hear the riddles.”  
“Carmilla, don’t insult the…lovely creature that you know, has our fate in its hands.” Laura says as sweetly as she can, “I mean, Mr. Sphinx here probably works very hard and is probably very underappreciated down here.”  
The sphinx nods, “You get it. She get’s it. You should take a page out of her book grumpy.” He says to Carmilla.  
Carmilla looks about ready to lunge at the sphinx, but Laura grabs her arm and Carmilla stops herself.  
“So, Mr. Sphinx, if you don’t mind me calling you that. What’s your preferred title?” Laura asks.  
“I just go by sphinx, but Mr. Sphinx sounds nicer. I like that.” The sphinx says.  
“Alright Mr. Sphinx, um, what are our riddles?” Laura asks.  
“Yes, yes, the riddles.” The sphinx says, “Alright, first riddle. What falls, but does not break and what breaks, but does not fall?”  
“What falls, but does not break and what breaks, but does not fall?” Laura repeats, “Hold on.” She looks over at Carmilla who appears to be thinking. She whispers to her, “Do you have any idea? Cause I was never very good at riddles. All I can think of right now are cats. Like, cats fall all the time, but don’t break. Did you know that cats can fall from like nearly any height and they won’t typically die because their terminal velocity is only 60 mph?”  
“Laura…” Carmilla says.  
“And cats are more likely to become injured from a shorter fall than a longer fall after a certain height?”  
“Laura…” Carmilla tries again.  
“ Plus cats break stuff all the time without falling themselves. I’ve seen so many videos of cats pushing stuff off counters.” Laura says.  
“Laura!” Carmilla says and Laura snaps her attention to her.  
“What? Sorry?” Laura asks.  
Carmilla just shakes her head, “You were nervously rambling again.”  
“Oh…sorry.” Laura says sheepishly.  
“It’s fine. Also cats are not the answer, there are two different answers.” Carmilla says.  
“Oh.” Laura says, “Do you know it?”  
Carmilla shrugs, “I can venture a guess.”  
“Alright then, go ahead.” Laura says.  
Carmilla nods and then turns to the sphinx, “Night falls and day breaks.”  
The Sphinx nods, “That is correct.”  
Laura looks impressed, but then adds, “Cats totally could have worked.” Both Carmilla and the sphinx roll their eyes.  
“Riddle number two.” The sphinx says, “I begin eternity, and end space. At the end of time and in every place. Last in life, second to death, never alone, found in your breath. Contained by earth, water or flame, my grandeur so great, wind dare not tame. Not in your mind, I am in your dreams, vacant to Kings, Present to Queens. What am I?”  
“Oh please, I’ve heard that riddle in some form or another for the past three hundred years.” Carmilla says laughing.  
“Carmilla!” Laura hisses.  
“Would you prefer a different one?” The sphinx asks not amused, “Perhaps more difficult?”  
Carmilla scowls, but shakes her head, “No.”  
“Then do you have your answer?” The sphinx asks.  
“Yes.” Carmilla says, “The letter E.”  
Laura looks at her surprised again, “What? The letter E?” Laura thinks of the riddle a few more times and then grins, “Oh, I get it. That’s neat.”

Carmilla looks over at Laura and laughs, giving her a peck on the forehead.  
“Riddle number three.” The sphinx says, “A windowless room that has three identical lights, each containing an identical light bulb. Each light is connected to one of three switches outside of the room. Each bulb is switched off at present. You are outside the room, and the door is closed. You have one and only one opportunity to flip any of the light switches any number of times. After this, you can go into the room and look at the lights, but you cannot touch the switches again. How can you tell which switch goes to which light.”  
Laura’s eyes widen, “What? I’ll repeat myself…what?” She begins to think, “Urrgh, I hate riddles so much right now.” She turns to Carmilla, “Please tell me you have some idea?”  
“Shhh, let me think.” Carmilla says waving her off. Carmilla begins to pace, muttering to herself under her breath.  
“There are three light switches outside the room, which connect to three light bulbs inside the room. We can’t see the lights, but we’re trying to figure out which light switch leads to which light bulb. We can flip the switches any number of times, but when we enter the room we can’t flip the switches anymore. How do we figure out which switch leads to which light?” Laura repeats to herself.  
After about ten minutes of thinking, Laura sits down on the floor. She groans, “I don’t know. I give up. We’re trapped here forever. I accept my fate. The others will just have to carry on without us.”  
Carmilla’s head snaps up, “Hold on. We’re idiots. The others.” She speaks into the radio, “We need some help here guys, involving a sphinx and a riddle. Think you can lend a hand.” The two wait, but all they hear is static, “Guys? This is not the time to be silent. Say something.” The static continues, “Guys?” Another pause, “LaF is my favorite.” Still no sound.  
“You humans amuse me.” The sphinx says, “Did you really think I’d just let you call out to your friends and have them look up the answer for you? That’s cheating.”  
“One, I’m not human.” Carmilla snarls, “And two, this whole situation is ridiculous.”  
“Oh, my mistake.” The sphinx sniffs, “You smell very human…but also not. You are in transition I see. And also, once again, just doing my job.”  
Carmilla thinks to LaFontaine, hoping that connecting still works. She tries to talk to them mentally several times, but gets no response like the radio. She growls.  
“Mental communication won’t work either.” The sphinx says, “Cheating.” It sing songs.  
“Fine.” Carmilla snaps and begins to pace again.   
Another ten minutes passes and Laura is lying on the floor staring at the ceiling, “We’re going to die down here, aren’t we?” Laura asks.  
“No cupcake, we’re not.” Carmilla hisses out, “I can do this. I can.” She continues to think.  
A half an hour has passed now and Laura begins to worry about what’s going on outside the library. A half an hour is a long time on this campus and any number of things could have happened. She’s concerned about her friends wellbeing. She’s worried about the other students. She’s worried about what the Dean is up to. And she’s getting endlessly frustrated that all that’s stopping her from saving everyone is an answer to a riddle.   
She’s about to draw her weapon and take it out on the stupid sphinx when Carmilla stops pacing and turns towards the creature, fire in her eyes.  
“I got it.” Carmilla says.  
Laura looks over at her, “You sure?”  
“Yes.” Carmilla says, “The answer is, you turn switches one and two on and leave them on for a while. Then you turn switch two off. You enter the room. The light bulb that is on is connected to switch one. The light bulb that is warm to the touch is connected to switch two. The light bulb that is cold and off is connected to switch three.”  
Laura grins, “Boom!”  
The sphinx nods, “That is correct.”  
Laura gets to her feet and begins to dance around, “Yes! Yes! Yes! We did it! We did it!” She grabs Carmilla’s arms and tries to get her to dance too, “Come on, Carm. Dance with me.” Her dancing is goofy and awkward and full of joy. All Carmilla can really do is stand there and watch her girlfriend with amusement.  
Laura then wraps her arms around Carmilla and kisses her passionately. She pulls away and then says, “You’re brilliant, you know that?”  
“I know cutie, but its nice to hear it every once in a while.” Carmilla says.  
“Not to interrupt this adorable moment, but…there is still one more riddle.” The sphinx says.  
Laura groans and rests her forehead on Carmilla’s shoulder, “We’re doomed.”  
“It’s alright darling, we’ve gotten this far. We can do the next one.” Carmilla says.  
“Right, you mean you can.” Laura says with a shrug and then turns back to the sphinx, “Alright, lay it on us.”  
“Riddle number four.” The sphinx says clearing his throat, “A box without hinges, key, or lid. Yet golden treasure inside is hid.”  
Laura blinks twice and then says, “Hold up, I know this one.”  
Carmilla looks at her with an arched eyebrow, “You do? Well then creampuff, give it a whirl. Although I don’t think the answer is cats.”  
Laura frowns at her and then says, “The answer is an egg.”  
The sphinx nods, “Correct. You are free to go.” The two slabs over the doorways lift and the sphinx quickly melds back into the stone.  
Carmilla bumps shoulders with her, “There you go cutie, you got it. And you said you weren’t good a riddles.” They begin to make their way out of the room.  
Laura blushes and then whispers into Carmilla’s ear, “Its from The Hobbit.”  
“What?” Carmilla asks.  
She whispers again, “You know the book.”  
“Yes, I know the book.” Carmilla says, “It’s on that list of yours of books that I just must read.”  
“Yes, it’s from that.” Laura says, “I didn’t figure it out, I just…new it.”  
“Well cupcake, don’t feel bad about that. I knew the first two for the same reason.” Carmilla says, “I’ve heard them before.”  
“And see, here I thought you were just a brilliant mind.” Laura says kissing Carmilla on the forehead.  
“Nope, just well read.” Carmilla smirks back.  
“I don’t know if I can consider you well-read if you haven’t read The Hobbit.” Laura comments.  
“Have you read any of the books I’ve suggested to you?” Carmilla asks.  
“Err…uh…I read The Republic.” Laura says.  
“That you read for a class.” Carmilla comments, “Does not count.”  
“Then…no.” Laura says.  
“I thought not.” Carmilla huffs and then smiles at her, “You know, I never did say I didn’t read The Hobbit.”  
Laura looks over at her wide eyed, “Wait, did you?”  
“Of course, cupcake.” Carmilla says smirking, “It was on your list.”  
“Wait, don’t tell me you’ve read all the books on my list!” Laura squeaks out.  
“Not all of them, but a large number.” Carmilla says still smirking.  
Laura sighs and hangs her head, “Well now I just feel bad.”  
“No need to feel bad, sweetheart. Just accept the fact that in this relationship, I’m obviously the better girlfriend.” Carmilla says.  
Laura groans, “You don’t need to remind me.”  
Carmilla laughs and wraps an arm around Laura’s shoulders, “Come here.” She kisses Laura on top of the head, “You’re not….”  
She gets cut off as they exit the room and their radios come to life.  
Carmilla drops to her knees clutching her head as LaFontaine’s voice comes pouring through her mind, “AAAGHHCH.” She shouts.  
Laura drops to her knees as well to see what’s wrong with her girlfriend, ignoring the continuous and panicked sounding chatter in her ear, “Carm? Carmilla? Are you okay? What’s happening?”  
Carmilla holds up a finger to silence her and thinks to LaFontaine, “QUIET!”  
LaFontaine doesn’t stop speaking, but their voice in her head drops to a normal conversational tone, “Carmilla? You’re there? Are you okay? Where the hell are you guys?”  
While Carmilla is conversing with a LaFontaine, Laura begins to listen in to the radio.  
“Laura? Carmilla? Come in! I repeat! Come in! What the hell is going on down there?” Danny’s voice shouts through the radio. Laura can hear what sounds like shouting and screaming in the background and then nearly jumps as the sound of an explosion rips through the radio very near to where Danny is, “FUCK!” She hears Danny shout.  
“Danny! Are you okay?” Laura shouts now, “What’s going on up there?”  
“Laura?” Danny replies after a moment, sounding somewhat weary, “What’s going on up here? We’re at war!”  
Laura looks over at Carmilla whose facial expression matches Laura’s own, terror.


	64. War Zone

Danny, Kirsch, and a squad of other students, supernatural and human, are hidden behind the Engineering building. Sweat is dripping down all their faces and there is fear in all of their eyes.  
How they ended up here, trapped behind the building, with patrols of mediators firing at anything that moved, Danny didn’t know. Well, she did know, but much of it was a blur.  
She and Kirsch had raced off to their respective society houses and once they had gathered up their friends and allies, they had met up at their agreed upon location. While there, they began to discuss their plans for protecting the supernatural student population. They expected this protection to involve escorting the students back to their dorms, verbal fights, a few minor altercations, and maybe some containment.   
What they hadn’t expected was to be ambushed halfway to the auditorium by two squads of mediators sitting on the roof tops of nearby buildings. Before she knew it, they were under fire.  
She had taken a dart to the leg and Kirsch had taken two to the stomach, but fortunately the darts didn’t seem to have any effects on humans. Unfortunately they had massive and rapid effects on any supernatural students they hit. She heard ten people behind her drop to the ground, howling in agony.   
They quickly rearranged themselves with human students on the outside and supernatural on the inside.   
They got about one hundred yards before another three squads of mediators engaged them on the ground, coming at them from three different directions, boxing them in. It was swords, bows, and tridents against tasers, darts, electrified batons, and a number of other gadgets that the mediators had.  
The Zetas and the Summer Society were losing people fast. Danny could see smoke rising from a number of other locations across campus and heard the sound of battle being waged in other areas as well. At one point she thought she saw a flock of harpies soar into the air and dive bomb something below.  
The only thing she could think of was Gwen being out there with all these psycho mediators around, firing their darts without thought or remorse. Her thoughts were interrupted by a massive explosion that rocked the campus. She looked up to see a huge fireball roaring into the sky about a mile away. It looked like it might be coming from near the auditorium. She had no idea what that was about and wasn’t sure she wanted to.  
The fighting continued. Their group got split and separated. She remembered running and fighting and running and fighting some more. She remembered losing contact with Laura and Carmilla. She remembered a wave of water coming crashing around a corner and sweeping them all off their feet before it dissipated. She remembered dodging what sounded like actual gunfire at one point and then watching a tornado form in the distance a few moments later, which she realized was not a tornado, but instead a swarm of locusts.  
And now, a group of them were ducked behind the Engineering building, trying to figure out what to do next. Everyone was looking to her to lead and normally she’d be up for it. But right now, this instant she was tired. She was tired and fed up and angry and scared. She’d never admit it out loud, but not having her right arm scared her and made her feel vulnerable.   
Sure she had said she could swing with her left, but she’d always predominantly been right handed. She had some skill with her left, but it wasn’t nearly the same and that left her feeling a bit helpless and she’d never quite felt like that before.   
Plus there was an awkward moment when they were gearing up that one of her summer society sisters had handed her a bow and she had just stared at it, realizing for the first time that she’d never be able to shoot a bow again. She’d never be able to go on a hunt again. The sister had quickly taken it away from her and had the decency to look absolutely mortified while handing her a sword. But still, she didn’t care that the poor girl had made a mistake, it happens. What she cared about was the fact that she was coming to realize there were certain things she’d never be able to do again, that she’d never be the warrior she once was, and that was a hard thing to accept.  
So here she was, hiding behind a building with explosions going off in the distance and battles raging all around, expected to lead a scared and worn out group of students after all that had just happened to her, and she just felt tired.  
She looked over at Kirsch who was staring at her, eyes searching for something, perhaps something to hope for. She looked past Kirsch to the others and saw similar looks on their faces. They were trying to see something in her that she just didn’t have right now and she didn’t know how to tell any of them that.  
But there was one small sliver of hope left in her hear. Gwen was still alive, Laura and Carmilla were still alive, she had just gotten in contact with them finally, and the others were still alive, and the campus wasn’t lost yet.  
She turned to Kirsch, “They’re making their way to the supply. That’ll help us in the long run, but not in the short term. We need a plan. The mediators have numbers, but we’re better trained than they are, stronger than they are, and we’ve got more to lose. The first thing was need to do is take out the snipers on the rooftops.” She turns to two of the summer society sisters, “Danielle you told me one time you could shoot the wings off a fly and Jaime I’ve seen you shoot targets accurately from 80 yards. Get on the roof of this building and take anyone out that you see…nonlethal if you can. You two…what’s your names?” She points to two hulking Zetas.  
“Sebastian.” One says.  
“Gabal.” The other says.  
“Okay, Sebastian, Gabal. Go with them, make sure they get there.” Danny says. The two nod and the four of them disappear inside the building.  
“Okay, the mediators seem to be running around in groups of as low as five and as high as fifteen. There are ten of us here, so in a face to face fight I’d say we should be able to take out most groups. However, we’re not going to be fighting face to face. This is guerrilla tactics. They outnumber us, but we’re smarter than them. How many supernatural students do we have left?” Four students raise their hands, “If you don’t mind me asking…what are you, and what can you do?”  
One of the summer society girls speaks first, “I’m a Kikimora. I can’t really do…a lot. But if I focus really hard I can cause people to see their worst fears for a little while.”  
“Okay, good…scary, but good.” Danny says.  
A tall, lanky Zeta speaks next, “I’m a hobgoblin, or well part hobgoblin. I can grant bad luck or good luck, temporarily.”  
Another Zeta speaks, “I’m a haltija. I have some protective magic abilities. Summoning minor shields, some deflection magic, that kind of stuff.”  
“Minor fire elemental.” A girl says, “But you already knew that.”  
Danny looks at her and nods, “Yes I did and you still owe me curtains.” She then turns back to the group, “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do, once they take out the ones on the roof…”


	65. Tricks of the Trade

By the auditorium, before it explodes

Gwen and LaFontaine are sitting in the auditorium, watching people being forced into the building. At first, a small trickle of students came in after hearing the alarm signaling a meeting. But after a while, the flow stopped and they saw that very few of the students had actually showed up. After a few more minutes, the doors near the stage slammed open and several heavily armed men in black uniforms marched in with an annoyed looking Dean coming in behind them.  
The men scanned the crowd, their weapons drawn, eyes’ sharp. Once they perceived no threats, they lowered, but didn’t put away their weapons and waved the Dean forward. She glared at the crowd as she stomped onto the stage.  
She looked out at the assembled audience and scowled deeply. Her normal mask of disappointment gave way to what LaFontaine could only assume were her true feelings, which was disgust.  
Her scowl deepened when she realized that less than half the students had showed up and even fewer supernatural students had. The only people who had shown up in force were the mediators and as LaFontaine looked over they realized that a good portion of them weren’t there either. They weren’t sure how to feel about that.  
“What is the meaning of this?” The Dean bellows out, not even containing her anger anymore, “What is the god damn meaning of this? Where is everyone? Where are all the creatures!?” No one answers her and LaFontaine swears they can see steam coming out of the woman’s ears. She clenches her fists and seems to be visibly shaking with rage. After a few moments, she lets out a deep breath and then seems to calm down significantly, “Fine, just fine.” A quiet rage now behind her voice, “You want the hard way, we can do this the hard way.” She clears her throat, “Squads Alpha through Epsilon, stay here. The rest of you, retrieve the rest of the student body by whatever means necessary.”  
“Should we do something?” Gwen whispers to LaFontaine.  
“Like what?” LaFontaine asks looking around the room, “We’re kind of outnumbered here. Just wait.”  
“I know, but this is…bad.” Gwen whispers back, “We should at least let the others know what’s going on.”  
“Right.” LaFontaine says and radios the others, telling them what is going on. They are surprised to find that neither Laura or Carmilla answers. They try again, still no answer. They try mentally linking with Carmilla, nothing. They feel their heart rate increase, hoping that the reason she’s not answering is not the reason they’re thinking of.  
“Well?” Gwen asks as the mediators march in lines out of the room.  
“Others are on their way….Laura and Carmilla…no response.” LaFontaine says.  
“What do you mean no response?” Gwen asks.  
“No response, not answering.” LaFontaine snaps a little harshly and then regrets it immediately after, “Sorry, I can’t get in contact with them.”  
“Not even with the link.” Gwen asks tapping her head.  
LaFontaine shakes their head, “Nope.”  
Gwen frowns, “That can’t be good.” She begins to feel nervous.  
“No it cannot.” LaFontaine says.  
“That doesn’t mean…you know.” Gwen says.  
“It might.” LaFontaine says, “It might not.”  
The Dean taps her fingers along the podium and then says before all the mediators leave, “Oh and if you see Miss Karnstein or Miss Hollis, please, bring them to me.” The mediators nod and pass the information along.  
“Alright everyone.” The Dean says a little too gleefully, “Supernatural students, line stand up.” Several of the supernatural students stand up, but several do not. The Dean practically growls out, “I said stand up! Now!” Several more students stand up, but still, not everyone, “I don’t understand why you have to make my job so difficult. I am just trying to help you.”  
She snaps her fingers and one of the mediators grabs a girl who is sitting down. She pulls away from him, but another mediator joins in and the two of them force the girl down onto her knees.  
No one moves, not even LaFontaine or Gwen, though both are on the edge of their seat and Gwen’s skin is rippling.  
“We have to do something.” Gwen says.  
“Not yet.” LaFontaine says and then looks at their watch.  
The Dean strides down the steps slowly and with purpose, a grin forming on her lips. She walks over to the girl and looks down at her, “Now dear, why didn’t you stand when I told you to?”  
The girl doesn’t answer, just glares up at the Dean.  
The Dean’s smile quickly turns into a frown and she snaps, “Answer me fiend!”  
The girl spits at the Dean’s shoes and the Dean kicks out, hitting the girl in the face and causing her head to snap back. Gwen twitches in her seat and LaFontaine can feel their rage building up. The girl slumps back and then forward, looking somewhat dazed as the mediators now hold her up.  
“Insolence will not be tolerated!” The Dean shrieks to the room, “Disobedience will not be tolerated! But that is all you animals are good for isn’t it! Disobey the rules! Following your instincts! Well no more! No more of this! You will not be excused from society or your actions any longer! From this day forward you will join the human race or you will perish!”  
There is a small explosion outside and then the sound of gunfire and shouting. The whole crowd turns to listen to the sounds of battle raging outside the doors.  
“What the hell?” Gwen says a little too loudly and the Dean looks up and spots her in the crowd.  
Her eyes narrow, then widen, and then a sinister smile creeps onto her face.  
“Aaah, Miss Adams, how good of you to join us.” The Dean says and then looks at the two mediators in front of her and the girl slumping to the ground, “Get rid of her.” The two toss her back into her seat where she is cared for by those around her.  
Gwen is torn between not responding and saying something. She decides to say something, “Yes, I thought I’d come to this little mass execution you have going on here. Looked like fun.”  
The Dean begins to walk towards her and says, “You know I almost didn’t recognize a mongrel like you without fur all over your face. But then again, you haven’t always been a beast have you? You joining the ranks of the damned is a rather recent occurrence, is it not? You were human once, like the rest of us. How would you like to join us once again?”  
“No thanks, I’m good.” Gwen says nonchalantly, “So, does that mean I can go?”  
The Dean’s fists clench again and she says through gritted teeth, “Grab her, bring her here, now.”  
“No seize her?” Gwen comments, “Poor form.”  
Several mediators grab her and Gwen looks over at LaFontaine, but LaFontaine shakes their head still.  
“Trust me.” LaFontaine whispers and Gwen gives them an unsure look, but nods.  
Gwen turns back to the Dean as she is being manhandled towards her, “So what’s the big plan here Deanie? Because I don’t think it’s quite going to spec.” As if to punctuate her point another explosion can be heard followed by screaming. The four mediators drop Gwen right in front of the Dean at the front of the auditorium near the stage.  
“I’ll admit, I was hoping the transition would go more smoothly.” The Dean says, but there is a maniacal glint in her eyes as she says, “But this works for me too.”  
“So…you’re crazy.” Gwen says shaking her head, “But I guess we already knew that.”  
“Is it crazy to want to defend yourself from monsters?” The Dean asks.  
“No, but only if the monsters actually exist.” Gwen says.  
“Are you not real?” The Dean smirks, “I can see you right in front of me. You are solid and real, are you not?”  
“I didn’t say I wasn’t real.” Gwen says, “But I did put into question whether I’m a monster. Because in this room, right now, I only see one monster. And I’ll give you a hint, it’s not anyone behind me.”  
The Dean slaps Gwen across the face and says, “How dare you imply that I am one of your filth.”  
“Oh, I don’t think you’re one of us.” Gwen says, “But you don’t have to be supernatural, to be a monster.”  
“Well soon, you’ll be neither. I was hoping to do this to Miss Karnstien, but you’ll do for now.” She holds out her hand and one of the mediators hands her a strange look, shining silver gun. She loads it up with darts and grins wickedly, “I do hope you don’t survive this Miss Adams.”  
“I do hope you eat shit.” Gwen snaps back and then hears LaFontaine clear their throat. Gwen quickly transforms into her werewolf, throws off her mediator guard, and leaps backward towards the crowd. There’s a soft buzzing noise and suddenly a shimmering dome appears around everyone in the audience, excluding the mediators lined up along the sides.  
The Dean fires the dart gun at Gwen, but the darts strike the force field now surrounding everyone and drop to the ground.  
“What is the meaning of this?” The Dean shouts, firing again with the same result. She surges forward and attempts to pass through the force field, only to be sent stumbling back, yelping in pain as it prevents her from entering, “How are you doing this!? What is this?”  
LaFontaine gets up from their seat, a strange contraption strapped to their chest with all sorts of dials and buttons and wires going into it and wrapping around LaFontaine.  
“It’s a force field, like the one you put up over the whole campus.” LaFontaine says, “With a few minor adjustments.”  
“That can’t be.” The Dean says, “Lophiliformes is dead. How are you powering this thing?”  
“Well you don’t need an elder god monster to power a force field, you just need a god monster to power a big force field indefinitely. A smaller, more localized force field that is temporary, well…that needs much less energy.” They point to themselves, “About a me’s worth of energy.”  
Gwen looks over at them shocked, “You’re powering this thing? Will it hurt you?”  
“Not if I don’t let it run too long.” LaFontaine whispers back at her.  
“Well, you’re a fool then, aren’t you? You can’t power this thing forever. And when it drops, my men will be upon you in seconds. You’ve only bought yourself time.” The Dean says.  
“Time is all I need.” LaFontaine says and presses a button. There’s a hissing noise as something begins to pour out of the vents.  
“What is that?” The Dean asks.  
“Knockout gas. Sleep tight.” LaFontaine says and then begins to usher people out of the auditorium with the force field centered on them.  
They make it out of the building without anyone following them and step out into a war zone. Mediators, human students, and supernatural students are all at war with one another. And no one is pulling any punches. One kid is throwing fireballs at a mediator holding up a riot shield. A mediator is throwing grenades at a kid with metal skin. LaFontaine spots a mediator on a roof with a rocket launcher firing at the ground below. A flock of harpies comes shrieking out of the sky and rips the rocket launcher kid to shreds. Forest spirits are binding up any mediator they can get their roots on, while a few witches and warlocks are catching spells and curses. They watch boils erupt on the flesh of a mediator as he begins to flail around in pain.  
They spot Victor, the former head of the student association hurl a massive boulder at a group of mediators who fling themselves out of the way. They feel somewhat relieved that Victor managed to escape the clutches of the Dean looking relatively unscathed. They spot Aki, Victor’s boyfriend, wielding a sword and dueling with a mediator nearby.  
Gwen looks out at the chaos, “So…this is going well.”  
“Yep.” LaFontaine says.  
“Any idea what we should do?” Gwen asks as they make their way further into the chaos, “Cause this is…”  
Suddenly a fireball roars through the air and smashes through the window of the auditorium behind them.  
LaFontaine’s eyes widen and they spin around to watch the gas inside the building ignite, causing the auditorium to go up in a huge ball of flame, exploding outward. The fireball rolls around and covers the force field for a moment before dying out. Chunks of brick and other debris go flying everywhere. The force field saves all their lives.  
But the toll of this attack is too much and the force field begins to flicker and fade as LaFontaine drops to their knees, suddenly feeling exhausted.  
Gwen rushes over to them and helps them back to their feet, “How are you feeling?”  
“Tired.” LaFontaine says and watches as the crowd from the auditorium begins to disperse. Some join the fight, but most run back to their dorms, “Just, lean me against the wall here for a second.” Gwen helps them hobble over to a nearby wall and she leans them up against it.  
“Yeah, that’s it.” LaFontaine says and sits down. Gwen ducks as several darts come shooting overhead and stick in the wall behind her. She tries to stop whoever fired them at her, but doesn’t see anyone in particular in all the confusion.  
“See, even when you don’t intend to make things explode, they explode.” Gwen says to LaFontaine with a raised eyebrow.  
“It’s a talent.” LaFontaine says gruffly.  
“We need a plan here LaF.” Gwen says and looks outward, “I mean, we stopped the Dean right? All the fighting should stop soon without a leader…right?”  
“I don’t think they need a leader right now.” LaFontaine says, “All that pent up rage that has been boiling below the surface is finally being let out. There’s no stopping this until everyone is unconscious or dead.”  
“We need help.” Gwen says, “We can’t stop them all on our own.” And her eyes widen as a swarm of locusts raises into the air a few buildings down, “A lot of help.”  
LaFontaine nods, “I was hoping they’d be here by now. That everything I had told them would be enough. But perhaps they need more visual evidence or a boot in the ass.”  
“What are you talking about?” Gwen asks.  
“The organization.” LaFontaine, “The secret government one the Dean works for. I tried to talk to them before, tried to get their attention. It obviously didn’t work. Looks like they’re going to need more persuading. Help me up.” They reach their hand up and Gwen helps them to their feet.  
“Do you think they’ll even help us at all?” Gwen asks.  
LaFontaine shrugs, “I have to try. Help me get to the computer labs, its closer than my room. It’s time to hack into a secret government agency’s computer system….again.”  
“Again?” Gwen asks.  
“Don’t ask.” LaFontaine says waving her off.  
They make it halfway to the computer labs, only slightly worse for wear, when Perry gets on the radio shouting about the Dean heading towards the library.  
“What?” LaFontaine asks, “Repeat that Perr.”  
“The Dean, she’s heading for the library. I just saw her and a contingent of very heavily armed guards making their way in. You have to warn Laura and Carmilla.” Perry says.  
“Perr, the Dean is unconscious under a pile of rubble…or dead.” LaFontaine says.  
“I just saw her LaFontaine. Unless it was a mirage of some kind brought on by battle fatigue or what have you, she was right there.” Perry says.  
“That’s bad.” Gwen says, “Very bad. Can you still not get in contact with those two?”  
LaFontaine tries again, but shakes their head, “Nothing.”  
“Can anybody get to the library and stop her?” Perry asks, “I’m a little….busy at the moment.”  
Danny comes on and sounds out of breath, “Little busy here too.”  
“Danny, you alright?” Gwen asks.  
“Sure, fine.” Danny says.  
“Danny…” Gwen says.  
“I’m fine.” Danny says.  
Gwen nods and then turns to LaFontaine, “What about us?”  
“We’re too far away. We’d never get there in time.” LaFontaine says, “Let me try them again.” LaFontaine practically begins mentally screaming at Carmilla to hear them. There’s nothing for a few moments and then someone cries out inside her head. There’s a shout to be quiet and LaFontaine feels their whole body sag with relief.  
“Got her.” LaFontaine says, “Let’s keep moving.”


	66. Very, very frightening

Perry has sent out a mass text to all the panthers and wolves of SPATULA and is quickly making her way to the SPATULA meeting room. She’s making her way, against the flow of students, though there are less students heading in that direction than she imagined, towards the Strauss Building where they’ve been meeting of late. She suddenly hears several loud voices coming towards her.  
Normally she wouldn’t think anything of it, but there’s a jovial air to their talking that doesn’t fit the attitude of the other students around her. The only people who would be joking and laughing at a time like this are mediators. Before she can duck behind a building a group of five mediators turns the corner and spots her. She freezes in place, not sure if she should just walk past them or acknowledge them in anyway.  
She gives a curt not and then quickly attempts to make her way by them, head ducked down as to not make eye contact. It doesn’t work.  
The one near the front calls to her, “Hey, you there! Where are going?”  
She stops and looks up at him, recognizing his face. She looks at his name badge and sees A. Russo.  
“Err, uh, I’m just heading back to my dorm room to pick something up.” Perry says, “Sorry if I disturbed you gentlemen in anyway. I’ll just be on my way.” She once again attempts to move by them, but Russo grabs her arm and pulls her back.  
“Don’t you hear the alarm girl?” He asks sternly, “There is a town hall meeting you should be attending, that way.” He points in the direction she came from.  
Perry nods up and down several times, starting to feel nervous and jittery. She looks back behind her wishing she wasn’t alone right now, wishing the others were with her. If LaFontaine were here, they’d say something snarky and pointed and then threaten them with electrocution or incineration. If Laura were here she’d go on a tirade about human rights. If Carmilla were here she’d growl and threaten disembowelment and perhaps end up in a fist fight. If Gwen were here she’d make a stupid joke that would get her into trouble and then she’d end up in a fist fight. If Danny were here, she’d just glare down at all of them. Each of them would know how to get out of this situation in some shape or form.  
But Perry, this wasn’t Perry's area of expertise. She hated conflict. Most situations she could get by being friendly and polite and being accommodating. Sure, she had to put her foot down here and there. But this was different. And she didn’t know what to do.  
“I…uh…um…I’m sorry.” Perry manages to get out, “But I really do have to go this way.” She points, “I’ll be back to the auditorium before the meeting starts, I promise.”  
Russo frowns and looks back at the others, “What do you think?”  
A girl behind Russo shrugs, “Let her go Tony.”  
Russo nods and lets Perry go and she feels her nerves begin to settle and relief wash over her, “Thank you, I’ll just be…”  
“Hold up.” Another guys says and pulls her towards him. He grabs her wrist and yanks up her sleeve to reveal the metal bracelet that she had to wear as a level six, “You’re an unnatural?”  
“Yes.” Perry says anxiously, “But I really mean no harm, I’m just…”  
“What are you doing walking about all by your lonesome girl?” Russo asks, an edge creeping into his voice, “It’s not safe for ones like you to be walking about all by yourself.”  
“Yeah, I mean, something might happen to you.” The guy holding her wrist says and she looks at his name tag to see the name D. Delacroix. He pulls out a baton and waves it about threateningly, “I mean, someone could hurt you.”  
The girl, whose name reads A. Klerk pulls out a baton as well and taps Perry lightly on the arm, “We’re just here to protect you, really.” She smiles at Perry, but it isn’t friendly.  
Delacroix laughs and then swings first, hitting Perry in the stomach with the baton. All her breath escapes her and she doubles over in pain. She stumbles back, but the guy still has a grip on her wrist and pulls her back towards him.  
Klerk takes a swing at her now and hits her arm. She feels the baton connect and then winces as the pain shoots up into her shoulder.  
The two behind the others pull out their batons as well and Perry begins to sweat, her eyes wild and afraid. She yanks against the guys wrist, but his grip is tight and strong.  
Russo laughs at her attempts and shakes his head, “You’re not very powerful for one supposed to be a level 6. I thought you folks were like demigods or something. Where is that power girl? Come on, defend yourself!”  
He nods to Delacroix who swings again, striking Perry in the side. She feels sick and cries out at the blow. She thinks she hears a cracking sound and fears that it may be one of her ribs. The pain is searing and it takes several moments before she can get a handle on it.  
“No, come on now. You can do better than that.” Russo says laughing and snaps his fingers. The two in back step forward and swing at the same time. One hits her on the shoulder, another at the hip. She collapses onto her knees as she yelps in pain, clutching her said. Her breathing is ragged now, her whole body shaking.  
They continue to laugh at her and she hears the girl, Klerk say, “Poor little thing. So afraid.” Then she feels a foot connect with her chest and she sprawls out onto her back. She opens her eyes to see them all standing over her, nasty smiles on their faces. She reaches for her headset which has fallen out of her ear, but Delacroix kicks it away.  
She looks back at their faces and she sees no mercy there. She wonders if they even see her as a person, but she doubts it. She doesn’t really see them as people right now either, with their twisted faces, contorted into grotesque masks of laughter and delight. They delight in her pain, her fear, they take enjoyment from it. They loom over her, like monsters from her childhood. And she knows, she knows that if she doesn’t do something, that this will be the end for her. Because there is no mercy in their faces and she knows they will not spare her.  
She closes her eyes and looks up at them once again. She feels something inside her click, like a switch being turned on or off, she isn’t really sure which one. But as soon as that change occurs she feels a buzzing sensation in her gut, like pins and needles when your foot falls asleep. It starts out small and faint, but builds quickly inside of her, spreading to every limb in her body until she feels like she’s going to burst.  
The mediators are still standing over her, talking now. A few times they take shots at her on the ground, but the static like feeling inside of her is overwhelming her senses so that everything around her is dull and almost numb. She barely feels their hits, but they don’t seem to notice, wrapped up in their own violence and enjoyment of it.  
She doesn’t know what’s happening to her. And while normally in a situation like this she would feel nervous or panicked, she doesn’t feel anything at all really. She would feel relaxed if it wasn’t for the painful sensation that was spreading through her, feeling like its slamming against her skin, ready to jump out of her at any moment.  
After a few moments Russo notices her somewhat dull stare and scowls. He seems to come back to reality and listens to the sound of the alarm going off.  
“Alright guys, we should wrap this up. We have a meeting to get to.” Russo says and pulls out one of those strange dart guns which Perry assumes must have Phase 2 in it. He examines the gun without showing any emotion and says, “If it were up to me, we’d shoot the lot of you down like dogs. Line you up and then, pow, pow, pow.” He makes the sounds for effect, “But we have our orders. You’re to be transformed, rehabilitated, or whatever they want to call it. This here drug can kill you or it can turn you. The odds are in your favor it seems, as the drug seems to turn more than it kills. However, I’ve added a little something extra into each of my darts to up the odds. Belladonna, grows rather rampant in the South Woods. It means beautiful woman. I think it’s fitting since my girlfriend died during the demon attacks last semester, which never would have happened if it weren’t for you monsters. And now, this is going to kill you.”  
Throughout his entire speech, Perry has not being paying attention. A hissing noise has begun to fill her ears. She can feel a tingling sensation course through her and if she was paying attention, she’d see several of the mediators twitch or shiver around her. The hairs on her arms begin to stand up, as they do on everyone around her, but she doesn’t notice that either. What she does notice is that all the metal objects in the area begin to give off a soft, blue white glow.  
Klerk notices as well and says, “What the hell?”  
Russo ignores her as he continues to talk, “What do you say to that monster? What are you last words on this Earth before I slay you?” He levels the gun at Perry’s head.  
Perry looks him straight in the eye and feels nothing when she does. She feels her face sneer and wounds begin to come out of her mouth. There’s a static like quality to her voice as she says, “You wanted a demigod. Well, now you’ve got her. Prepare to feel my wrath.”  
Russo blinks confused for a second and then scowls, preparing to pull the trigger. He never gets the chance.  
Perry feels all the energy inside her release all at once and it hurtles heavenward. Suddenly a large bolt of lightning comes crashing out of the sky and splits five ways, striking each of the mediators at once. The current arcs through them as the lightning doesn’t dissipate in an instant, but instead continues to flow down from the sky like a beam of energy.  
Perry turns away as the light is too bright to look at, the heat is nearly overwhelming, and the sound that occurs a few seconds later deafening. She can’t even hear them scream, though she assumes they are.  
After what feels like an eternity the beam of lightning stops and suddenly it is quiet, the world is still. Perry waits a couple more seconds and then opens her eyes. The earth around her is blackened and scorched and is glowing slightly from the heat. She looks at the five mediators or what remains of them, for there is little left, but blackened corpses and ash, and once again doesn’t feel a thing.  
She knows she should feel something. She knows if she were feeling herself, that the sight of what she’d done, the bodies lying there hardly recognizable as human would make her feel ill and upset and remorseful or something. But right now, she feels empty inside. Cold, calculating. And she knows her lack of emotion should make her feel something too, fear probably, but there isn’t even that.  
She looks at the bodies and then up at the cameras that dot the campus. She feels the buzzing build up inside herself again, not quite as strong though, and she waves her hand. Nothing visible happens, but any tape of her killing these mediators is gone, in an instant. She looks back down at the bodies and waves her hand again. A strong wind picks up and suddenly the bodies are being blow away. She waves her hand for a third time and the scorch marks fade, the damaged stone repairs itself, and there is no trace that anything ever happened here.  
She blinks a few times and then hears voices coming from the radio which was kicked away. She picks up her earpiece and places it in her ear. She hears all her friends speaking, discussing plans and what was going on around them. She hears LaFontaine speak, saying something about only a small number of people showing up at the auditorium.  
And then she feels something click inside of her. And in an instant she is on her knees, tears streaming down her face. She rips the radio away from her and clicks it off. She doesn’t want them to hear her sob, not this time. She leans up against a stone wall behind her and cries, deep and long. Her sobs wrack her body and she can’t seem to stop. Suddenly she feels ill, like she’s going to throw up and she bends over as she dry heaves, but nothing comes out. She’s a mess as she’s crying and nearly throwing up. Her whole body shaking as her nerves tear through her.  
She’s never killed anyone before. Well, there was Will two semesters ago. But he was a monster, wasn’t he? He was about to kill her. She had no choice. And she had been broken up about that too.  
A voice in the back of her head tells her this was no different. They were monsters too. They were about to kill her as well.  
But for some reason this feels different, more raw. And perhaps it has less to do with who or why she killed them, but how. She used her magic. She tapped into that dark power that she had been resisting all her life. In that moment, when the power surged through her, she felt strong and almost elated. And that terrified her. For a moment there, she had become like her mother. Something she never wished to be. Something which the very idea made her skin crawl and her heart ache and her stomach turn.  
She laid on the ground for another fifteen minutes before she realized she was on the dirty ground. She leapt to her feet in an instant and brushed herself off. Her whole body was still shaking, but she had a job to do and she didn’t have time to wallow in self-pity.  
She put her radio back on and heard LaFontaine speaking. Their voice seemed to calm her some.  
“Hey Perr, you there? Haven’t heard from you in a while.” LaFontaine says, but there is worry in their tone.  
“Oh…yes…I’m fine.” Perry says, attempting to keep the quiver out of her voice, “Just making my way to the meeting place.”  
“Right.” LaFontaine says, “Okay, glad you’re alright.” But Perry can tell that LaFontaine knows something is off. She knows LaFontaine will ask her about it later and she knows that she has no idea what she is going to tell them.  
“I’m glad you’re okay too.” Perry says and feels her heart beat rapidly inside her chest.


	67. Medical tent

Perry gets to the Strauss building without another incident, which she is immensely grateful for. She runs inside and up to the second floor and into the large lecture hall where over a hundred students have gathered. She’s surprised and delighted by the turnout.  
She suddenly spots a few gray uniforms in the crowd and begins to feel her heart rate increase again. She feels like she’s going to be sick. But she notices that the mediators are sitting there peacefully, watching her as she goes by with interest, but not distaste.  
One of the mediators stands up as she walks by grabs her arm. She nearly jumps out of her skin and feels the buzz in her stomach start again. She pushes it down as she turns to face him and sees a face she finds familiar. She looks at his badge and sees the name H. Steiner. He smiles at her kindly and lets her arm go.  
“Hi, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He says somewhat embarrassed, “I…err…we…wanted to say that we’re here to help.” He gesture to several mediators sitting next to him and Perry is surprised to find Gideon is one of them. His head is down and he looks nervous. He looks up and they lock eyes. She can tell he’s feeling scared, so she smiles at him as best she can, trying to reassure him that he’s safe here. He seems to relax a little bit.  
“Here to help?” Perry repeats as she turns back to Steiner.  
“Yes.” Steiner says, “We’re not…we don’t support what the administration is doing. This is gone too far. This is not what some of us signed up for. We were supposed to help people…not…anyway…we’re here to help. We’re not mediators anymore.” To prove his point he rips off his badge and throws it to the ground. He takes off his bullet proof vest and his belt full of weapons and places them down too. He then strips off his uniform until he is standing only in his jeans and T-shirt. The other mediators in the crowd follow suit and in an instant they don’t look so frightening anymore. They look like regular students. People she could have gotten to know, become friends with if circumstances had been different.  
She smiles at Steiner and nods, “We thank you for your support. Though if things don’t go according to plan, you may want to keep some of that protective gear on. It might come in handy.” Steiner nods and sits back down, gathering up his gear that he dropped on the floor.  
Perry continues to walk up the aisle of the lecture hall and makes her way to the front of the room. She gets up to the podium and looks at the amassed crowd and feels a mixture of both fear and pride.  
She clears her throat a few times and when everyone quiets down she begins to speak, “Hello all.” She says a little nervously, “Um…so for those of you who are new here, welcome to the Society of Peace between the Abnormal, Transdimensional, Unearthly, Less-Magical, and Amagical or SPATULA.” She laughs nervously at the name and then continues, “Um…for those of you who are returning, welcome as well. We are glad to have you back here with us. As you all may have noticed, relations on this campus between supernatural students and human students has been growing…rockier as the semester as continued. This club has made it our duty to improve relations and to make sure both human students and supernatural students feel safe on this campus. Many of you may be thinking that we have failed. That we have not completed our goal and that we can never complete our goal. I will tell you that we have not failed, not yet. As long as you are all here and all determined to improve relations, than we have not failed. We have a long road ahead of us, but we can do it…I’m sure of that. Fairly sure.” She laughs again and the rest of the audience does too, “Now on to why I have gathered you here today. Our campus is at a crossroads. Despite what you may have been told, the Dean is here not to improve things, but to make them worse. Many of my friends have witnessed her dealings and her machinations. While she states that her new goal is to turn the supernatural population human, which is terrible in and of itself, her actual goal is to wipe out as many of us as she can. She seeks revenge on all of us, for she believes it is our fault that she lost her sister and she does not care in the slightest what happens to any of us. She has produced a drug called Phase 2, which when injected three times, causes the victim to become human or die. It varies depending on the type of creature you are. She has mass produced this, created weapons which can distribute it, and is now gathering the entire student body to implement her plan. You all hear the alarms and you now know what that means. We are trying to stop her from enacting this plan. My friends are currently fulfilling their own missions. Our mission is to keep the peace as best as we can on the west side of campus, even if some force is necessary. Though we will use non…non…” She chokes on her words for a moment and then swallows hard, “Non-lethal means. But we hope it does not come to that. Our presence alone should help keep things in order. If it does not, if things go south, our ultimate goal is to protect the innocent. We will not let this woman hurt us any longer, we will not let these people treat us as second class citizens any longer. Who is with me?”  
The whole audience lets out a thundering cheer and Perry is awed at their support.  
“Then let us split into groups of five.” Perry says.  
They split and disperse out across campus. About fifteen minutes later and Perry finds herself in the middle of carnage and chaos. The mediators are striking hard and fast and she isn’t prepared to handle this kind of assault. But fortunately Steiner is. He rallies the few groups nearby and manages to incapacitate the squad of mediators that was attacking them.  
Perry looks at their small corner of calm in the middle of a wild storm, she looks at their fallen brethren and the fallen mediators and realizes what she must do.  
“These people are going to need medical assistance.” Perry says to Steiner, “We need to set up a medical tent right here, right now.”  
Steiner nods and begins to walk over and shout to the people gathered nearby, shouting for supplies and assistance.  
Fifteen minutes after that and they have a semi-working medical tent set up, with injured of both sides being treated. At first people were hesitant to help the mediators, but Perry went on a tirade, shouting about what they were here for and what they believed in. They quickly shut up and helped after that.  
Perry and several others are treating all kinds of injuries like burns, taser prongs, bludgeoning, arrows, strange growths, spines, and even gunshot wounds. The worst are the ones who have a bad reaction to Phase 2. The first student she lost was a young boy, no more than eighteen, going into cardiac arrest due to an overdose of Phase 2.  
She can hear the sounds of battle raging all around her, but she tunes it out. She has work to do. She is so focused on bandaging up a mediator who had his foot nearly torn off that she barely responds to someone shouting about the Dean.  
It takes her a moment to realize someone is speaking to her and she looks up to see a girl shouting and waving her hands about, talking about the Dean.  
“…headed towards the library. Two of ours just saw her.” The girl says.  
Perry jerks upright and says, “Take care of him.” She tells the girl, gesturing to the mediator, “Steiner come with me please.” She waves him over and he jogs to her.  
“What’s up Perry?” He asks.  
“I need to check something out myself.” Perry says, “But I’m afraid…afraid to go out there by myself. Can you spare a few people to escort me?”  
Steiner looks at her curiously for a moment and then nods, looking around. He spots a tall, lanky kid guarding the doorway and shouts, “McKnight, with me. We have a mission.”  
McKnight jogs over and she recognizes him as one of the former mediators, “What’s up?”  
“We’re going to escort Perry wherever she needs to go.” Steiner says and although McKnight looks confused he nods in agreement.  
“No, Steiner, I need you here.” Perry says.  
“We can’t spare anyone else currently.” Steiner says.  
“Then McKnight will be fine.” Perry replies.  
“I’m not letting you go out there without me.” Steiner says, “If you hadn’t noticed, we’re at war here.”  
Perry hesitates and looks at the people bustling around the medical tent. She turns to a girl nearby, “Abigail, do you have this?” Abigail nods and Perry turns to Steiner, “Alright…just…let’s be careful all.”  
The three make their way out of the tent and towards the library.  
“Where are we going Perry?” Steiner asks.  
“I was informed that the Dean has been spotted heading towards the library. I need to see that with my own eyes before I relay that to the others.” Perry says and Steiner nods.  
They wend their way across the battlefield, avoiding any hot spots they can. After five minutes Perry hears shouting from off to her left and sees a tall woman in heels and a suit making her way towards the library. There are at least five men in black uniforms, armed to the teeth following behind her.  
“That’s her.” Perry hisses and reaches up for her radio. Suddenly, there’s several loud bangs nearby and pieces of brick go flying nearby. She hears a grunt and ducks as gunfire rattles around her. After a few moments she lifts her head to see a mediator fleeing in the distance. She turns to McKnight who is also on the ground, but slowly getting to his feet.  
She turns to Steiner to find him on the ground too, but he isn’t getting up. She rushes to his side quickly and sees that he has a bullet wound in his shoulder. He is breathing hard and fast as blood gushes from the wound.  
“Help me with him!” Perry shouts to McKnight, “We have to get him back to the tent.” She staunches his bleeding with some gauze and McKnight lifts him onto his shoulders.  
Perry then shouts into the radio as they make their way back to the tent, “The Dean is headed to the library!”  
“What?” LaFontaine asks, “Repeat that Perr.”  
“The Dean, she’s heading for the library. I just saw her and a contingent of very heavily armed guards making their way in. You have to warn Laura and Carmilla.” Perry says.  
“Perr, the Dean is unconscious under a pile of rubble…or dead.” LaFontaine says.  
“I just saw her LaFontaine. Unless it was a mirage of some kind brought on by battle fatigue or what have you, she was right there.” Perry says, “Can anybody get to the library and stop her?” Perry asks, “I’m a little….busy at the moment.” She looks over at Steiner who seems to be in a lot of pain and hopes that she doesn’t lose him too.


	68. Broken Machines

Down in the library

Laura is listening to LaFontaine speak over the radio and then looks down at Carmilla who is crouched on the ground listening to LaFontaine speak in her head.  
“LaF says that they are trying to get in contact with the organization.” Laura says, “I think they hope they’ll help us out.”  
Carmilla quirks an eyebrow and says, “Do they really believe that? How very optimistic of them.” Carmilla quickly gets to her feet and locks eyes with Laura, “The Dean is on her way here.”  
“Right now?” Laura asks.  
Carmilla nods, “Right now. LaFontaine says Perry saw her making her way here about fifteen minutes ago. She’s probably already in the library.”  
“We have to move then. We have to go.” Laura says and begins to walk down the hallway. She stops and looks around confused for a moment and then turns back to Carmilla, “You uh…you do know where we’re going right?”  
Carmilla looks somewhat awkward and then says, “Sort of.”  
“Sort of?” Laura asks, “Carm, we’ve been down here for over an hour, probably close to two and now you’re telling me you don’t know where we’re going?”  
“Well how am I supposed to know where we’re going? The library changes every time we come down here. I mean we always eventually get to where we need to be, but you know, the getting there always changes. I know what room we’re looking for.” Carmilla says.  
“We could be wandering own here all night while the Dean is only in here for five minutes!” Laura yells, “She could get there first!”  
“I know!” Carmilla says, “Which is why we need to go, need to keep searching right now. Standing here discussing this will not help us.”   
Laura groans, “I hate this place. I hate this school. I hate everything.”  
Carmilla wraps an arm around Laura’s shoulder, “Everything?”  
Laura smiles at her and pecks her on the lips, “Okay, not everything.” They begin to walk down the narrow hallway they ended up in after the Sphinx.  
It takes them twenty minutes of searching and a duel with an ancient knight before Carmilla hears the sounds of waves lapping up against a shore and smells the stench of murky water beyond the door.  
As they approach the sound of heavy machinery can be heard on the other side and they hear voices yelling over the sound.  
“I think we’re here.” Carmilla says and quietly inches her way to the door. She presses her ear up against it.  
“What do you hear?” Laura asks.  
“Ssshhhh.” Carmilla hisses out and waves her off. Laura pouts.  
After a few moments Carmilla nods and says, “Okay, I think there are four of them. I didn’t hear the Dean, so I don’t think she’s here yet. I think if we take them by surprise, we have a good chance of taking them out.”  
Laura nods and draws her weapon, “I’m ready. How are you feeling?”  
“A bit stronger, but not by much.” Carmilla says, but adds, “But I am ready.”  
She holds up three fingers and counts down. Once she reaches zero she rips open the door and flies in, faster than humanly possible. Laura quickly jogs in behind her. Carmilla leaps at the nearest mediator, who is too surprised by her presence to even draw his weapon. She grabs him and hurls him at another mediator who is pulling out his taser. The two collide with a loud thud and grunting and hit the muddy Earth. She’s on top of them in an instant knocking both of them out with quick punches.   
While that is going on, Laura has leapt in and fires her taser at the third mediator, who has drawn her weapon and is pointing at Carmilla. The girl goes down and Carmilla leaps at her, knocking her out as well.  
There’s a moment of tension as they both search for the fourth mediator. But he is quickly found as he fires a dart at Carmilla, who easily dodges it. She tackles him and he is down in a matter of seconds. They then gather up the groggy mediators and throw them into the room they came from and bar the door.  
Laura is breathing hard and sweating and Carmilla is only breathing slightly harder than usual.  
They smile at one another and then the sound of heavy machinery brings them back to reality.  
They look at the set up in front of them and despite the horror of what it means, they are both impressed.  
A large, leviathan like creature is floating on the surface of the water, more massive than either could have imagined. It looks to be sedated somehow, though neither is quite sure how until they spot four totems planted into the ground at either end of the underground lake. The totems give off a faint, green glow and they both figure that is what is causing the creature to sleep.  
Sticking out of the creature are numerous needles, plunged into its slimy flesh, with clear tubing running from the needles to a large machine on the shore. The machine itself seems to be some kind of filtration and processing device as the liquid that enters the machine is a sickly green, while the liquid that leaves it is a milky white. Once purified, the liquid is processed once again and the end product is clear. The clear liquid is then injected into darts which run along a convey belt into a glowing red portal that leads to who knows where.   
“Well, this is more than I expected.” Carmilla says.  
“You didn’t see the fish room.” Laura says.  
“The what?” Carmilla asks.  
“Never mind.” Laura says and approaches the machines, “So, how do we stop this thing?” She looks for an off switch of some kind.  
Carmilla has other plans and walks towards the conveyer belt. She examines it, places her hands on the edge and then pulls upward. She strains a bit, but the belt only tilts slightly. She growls as she tries again, with no change in results.  
Laura looks over at her, “What are you doing?”  
“Smashing this thing up.” Carmilla says, “Or trying to. We stop the belt from heading into the portal, we stop their supply. But I can’t…seem…too.” She grunts with the effort and there is a loud creaking noise as the conveyer belt tilts even more.  
“Carm, we can just turn it off.” Laura says.  
“And then they can just turn it back on.” Carmilla says and releases the conveyer belt, glaring at it, “No, we need to really fuck things up so they can never do this again.”  
“Good point.” Laura says and then looks around the room for something. She spots a toolbox nearby and digs through it. She finds a hammer and holds it up to show Carmilla, “Care to do the honors?”  
Carmilla looks over at her and grins, “Gladly.” She takes the hammer and begins to pound away on the machinery, pieces of metal, bolts, and nuts, and screws, and wires flying everywhere as she does so. Laura can hear Carmilla laughing to herself as she does this and can’t help, but roll her eyes.  
The machine grinds to a halt, sputtering and clanking as it no longer functions properly. The conveyor belt stops, the darts begin to pile up, and by the end of Carmilla’s gleeful destruction the whole place is a mess. The machine is barely recognizable and makes one last pathetic clanking sound before it shudders and stops.   
After a few more minutes of just basically denting the metal into a crushed and twisted pile Carmilla steps back and admires her handiwork, “I think that will do it. I’d like to see them fix that anytime soon.”  
Laura is about to respond when they hear voices coming from the portal. They both turn and look over at it and they see movement on the other side.  
Then a head pops into view on the other side and says, “Hey what gives you guys? Why’d you stop the device?” The mediator doesn’t seem to see them and is just talking into the portal, hoping to get a response.  
Laura moves to exit the room before the mediators figure out what’s happening and send reinforcements, but Carmilla has other ideas. She saunters her way over to the portal as the mediator continues to talk.  
“Hello? Is anyone there? We really need more darts, we’re running low. Those idiots out there are being particularly trigger happy and wasteful. I mean it’s not like we have an endless supply here guys. Hello? Anyone there? Guys? Bobby? What gives?” The mediator says.  
Carmilla comes into view of the portal and gives the kid a rather chilling smile.  
“I’m sorry, we appear to be having some…technical difficulties on this end.” Carmilla says, “It seems like we’ll have to put your supply on backorder indefinitely.”  
The mediator leans forward and peers through the portal. He squints his eyes and then frowns, “You’re not Bobby! Who the hell are you?”  
“Your worst nightmare.” Carmilla says and reaches into the portal to grab the kid by the shirt. She yanks him forward and the portal is just large enough to fit his head and some of his shoulders through. She then pulls downward forcefully and smashes the mediator’s head against the conveyor belt. The kid is out like a light bulb in an instant, going limp, and plugging up the portal.  
Carmilla laughs and Laura just shakes her head.  
“What that display of violence absolutely necessary Carm?” Laura asks.  
Carmilla looks at her and smirks, “No, but it sure was fun.”   
“Sometimes I think you enjoy causing mayhem too much.” Laura says.  
Carmilla walks over to her and says, “Only to ignorant bigots who deserve it.”  
Laura shrugs and says, “Alright, I’ll give you that.” She then looks around at their destruction and at the leviathan still lying dormant in the lake, “Should we do something about that? I mean…do we just leave it?”  
Carmilla looks to where she is pointing and then nods vigorously, “Oh yes, we leave that monstrosity right where it is for now. That thing almost killed me…” She trails off as she realizes what she’s saying and she sees the stricken look on Laura’s face.  
“You never told me it almost killed you!” Laura shrieks, “Carmilla!”  
“What? I didn’t think it was important at the time. I didn’t want to worry you.” Carmilla says, “And look Cupcake, I’m fine.” She gestures to herself, “See.”  
Laura wraps her arms around Carmilla and says, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”  
“You too Creampuff, you too.” Carmilla returns the hug. They separate after a moment and Carmilla smirks and says, “So, you want to blow this popsicle stand or what?”


	69. Because of you

Chapter 69: Because of you

The rest of campus

Gwen and Danny stand back to back, breathing hard, surveying the battlefield in front of them. The group has managed to meet up once again at the center of campus as Danny’s group took the west side and Perry’s group took the east. Perry is still in the medical tent treating the injured and LaFontaine has done all they can in regards to contacting the organization. They are now wielding their flamethrower again, using it to keep mediators back and away from them.  
The battle, despite how vicious it was before, seems to be dying down. Many of the mediators have either been killed , wounded, or rounded up and placed in confinement. Although many on the supernatural have also been lost or injured. Neither side has been left unscathed and the price of their conflict is literally laid out before them. It isn’t a pretty sight. But none of them are worrying about that currently as while the fighting is slowing down, it hasn’t stopped, and small skirmishes are still breaking out all across campus.  
Danny’s eyes spot a glint on a nearby rooftop and she hisses out, “Jaime!”  
A summer society girl with a bow spins to look at her and when Danny gestures towards the rooftop, spins back around and fires, barely even having to aim. The arrow snaps off the scope on the sniper rifle aimed towards a group of students escorting two mediators to the alchemy labs animal containment areas. The mediator wielding it leaps back from the gun and another arrow flies through the air, striking the trigger and breaking that off as well, leaving the gun essentially useless.  
Kirsch, who is a few buildings down, spots the mediator on the rooftop fleeing and yells to two nearby Zetas to go grab him. The two zetas sprint after the guy and tackle him to the ground. They lift him up and begin to escort him with the others.  
Danny then relaxes a little bit as there is currently no battle going on near her. She spots smoke in the distance and sighs, turning to a summer society girl, “Alex, tell the mages they can stop throwing fireballs at the doors to the chem labs. Let the scientists out and escort them with the rest.” Alex nods and rushes off to relay that order. Danny feels a nudge to her ribs and turns to see Gwen pointing to a geyser of water squirting up into the air. Danny sighs again and shouts to another summer society girl, “Hey, Riko, can you tell the water spirits to stop flooding the gymnasium. I know they were dueling with a squad of mediators in there, so take some summer society girls and zeta bros with you just in case.” Riko nods and begins to collect up a squad of her own to go toward the gym.  
The two of them hear LaFontaine shouting at a group of wolves, “Hey! Stop standing around! You need to be patrolling campus and containing any fights! We aren’t done yet! Anyone you see fighting, stop the fight immediately.”  
Gwen watches a group of panthers covertly sneak into the literature building and ten minutes later come out with five mediators.  
“Any sign of the Dean?” Gwen asks as she turns to face LaFontaine and Danny.  
LaFontaine shakes their head, “No. No sign of the evil empress.”  
“How about Laura and Carmilla?” She asks.  
“They’re making their back out of the library.” Danny says.  
“Well, surprisingly enough, it looks like we have a handle on things out here.” Gwen says, “At least for now.”  
Suddenly the group hears a consistent thudding beat coming from behind the mountains. Its loud, continuous, and getting closer.  
“What the hell is that?” Gwen asks and they all turn to see three, black military style helicopters making their way towards the campus, “Oh…crap.”  
Danny looks at LaFontaine, “They’re here to help us right? Not the other way around.”  
LaFontaine looks nervous for a moment, “I…I think so.”  
“What did you send them? How did you get them here?” Gwen asks.  
“I sort of…hacked into their security system.” LaFontaine says sheepishly.  
“LAF!” Gwen shouts, “They’re probably here to arrest you or something.”  
“No! I mean, maybe! But I didn’t just hack in. I sent them footage from across campus. Footage of what was going on. I was hoping that would be enough for them to think they should intervene.” LaFontaine says.  
“Well, apparently you were right.” Gwen says.  
The three helicopters land in the middle of campus, causing everyone to scatter. A moment later a voice comes over a loudspeaker and says, “Please drops your weapons immediately.”  
Everyone drops their weapons. Swords, bows, tasers, dart guns, batons, and more fall to the ground as they all stare in shock at the vehicles.  
After that twenty heavily armed men dressed in black come streaming out of two of the helicopters. They begin to survey the area, looking for potential threats. After searching around a bit, they radio in saying everything is clear.  
Then several people dressed in suits come striding out of the middle helicopter. In the lead is a tall, black suited man with a red tie, and wearing dark sunglasses. He surveys the crowd and then spots Danny and the others. His smile is not exactly friendly in nature and he has a chilling atmosphere about him.  
He walks towards them and says, “Ah, I should have known you folks would be at the center of all of this.” He gestures to the remains of chaos around them. He looks at the three of them and then spots Perry coming out of the medical tent towards them. He frowns slightly when he doesn’t see anyone else, “So, where are my favorite instigators Miss Hollis and Miss Karnstein. I figured they would be here in the thick of it.”  
“They’re making their way back from the library.” LaFontaine says and eyes their former Dean suspiciously, “Not to offend you Dean…er..sir, but I had heard that you were well…how do I put this…a few screws short of a hardware store?”  
The Dean laughs fully and says, “I like that one. I haven’t heard that one before. And I will admit I was a bit off my rocker for a while there. I suppose that can happen when you have another entity in your head, but I’m fully recovered. Thank you for asking.” He smiles, but it doesn’t seem genuine and then adds, “Call me Mr. Smith by the way. I’m no longer your Dean and therefore that title does not quite suite me anymore.  
“Right…” LaFontaine says, “And what exactly are you doing here?”  
Mr. Smith smiles and says, “Well, we got your message Miss LaFontaine.” He then jerks his thumb over his shoulder and adds, “Plus these two over here convinced me I should come and break things up.”  
The group peers behind Mr. Smith and spots Phil and a young woman they don’t recognize.  
“You obviously remember Phil from last semester and this is Thelxiope.” Mr. Smith says.  
“Thelxiope, you were in the room with Carmilla when she at her hearing…if you can really call it that.” LaFontaine says.  
Thelxiope nods, “I was. How is Miss Karnstein doing by the way? I was…afraid we wouldn’t get here in time.”  
“She’s alright, no thanks to you.” Danny snaps.  
“And you, I thought you were fired.” Gwen says pointing at Phil.  
“He’s on probation.” Mr. Smith says and then looks around, “Though he does seem to be right about how all this would turn out. Phase 2 was not a success.  
“You knew about Phase 2!” Perry shrieked out before clamping her hand over her mouth.  
Mr. Smith quirks an eyebrow at her and then shrugs, “Of course. Although it was not supposed to get this far, this fast. And it was not supposed to be used as a weapon or on anyone who didn’t want it. It was supposed to be optional.”  
“Yes, well our current Dean doesn’t seem to really care about procedure or the right way to do things.” Gwen says, “She’s a monster. Hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people are dead because of her.”  
Mr. Smith frowns and shakes his head, “Well, I am not convinced of that as of yet. Things did not go according to plan, I will agree with that. But I am not convinced that Dean Zamloch is behind this.”  
“Really? Seriously?” Danny says taking a threatening step forward, only to have several guns trained on her before she takes a step back, “After everything that has happened! After everything we’ve been through! You don’t believe this is her fault!”  
“There is no proof that she is to blame.” Mr. Smith says.  
“Yes, well while we’re having this lovely debate. You’re so called ‘innocent’ Dean is in the library, with Carmilla and Laura. And I’m kind of worried about leaving her with them. So if we could, I don’t know, move this along or something?” LaFontaine says.  
Mr. Smith’s frowns and looks to several of his soldiers, “Send some people down to the library and collect Commander Zamloch, Miss Karnstein, and Miss Hollis. No one is to be harmed.” He then turns back to gathered group “Our organization will take responsibility for the mismanagement here, but I am not going to call Commander Zamloch a monster before we have all the facts.”  
“All the facts?” Gwen says, “All the facts? All you need to know is that Dean Zamloch has been a bigot and a psychopath from day one. She marches in here pretending to be about unity and joining together, but in reality she created two factions. She created the haves and the have nots. She made the supernatural element of this campus second class citizens. And when we rose up to protest, she used violent means to control us. She had hundreds of magical creatures released killing numerous students both human and supernatural. She firebombed her own office killing and injuring several of her own men. She kidnapped students and used them for experimentation, including one of your so called favorite instigators, Miss Karnstein. And she attempted to force all the supernatural students to be turned human and when that backfired, started a war between the two sides, the aftermath of which you see here. That is what you need to fucking know.”  
Mr. Smith’s scowl deepens, “If what you say is true, then she has abused her power and repeatedly broken the law. Not to mention committed heinous hate crimes. But as of right now, all I have is your word against hers. And she isn’t even here to defend herself.”  
Thelxiope says, “I can vouch for some of that.” She says and gestures to a red mark around her neck, “She kept me on a leash essentially. Before I escaped.”  
“Sir, please, listen to us.” Perry says, “The Dean is here not to make this campus a better place, but to enact revenge on Carmilla for what happened to her sister. She blames not only Carmilla, but the entire supernatural population for her sister’s death and wishes to be rid of all of us. She has used her power to hurt my friends, my family sir. To hurt me sir. She put these on several students.” Perry holds up her metal wristband and Mr. Smith looks somewhat stunned when he recognizes what that is, “This made me sick for so long. If it wasn’t for my LaFontaine, I would still be very ill, sir.”  
Mr. Smith looks slightly more disturbed, but not quite convinced, “Well, this certainly sheds some light on the goings on here. And will all be brought up during her trail.”  
“Trial?” Perry asks.  
“Yes Ms. Perry. The Dean will be brought before the code of conduct committee and her actions will be reviewed.” Mr. Smith says.  
“That’s it?” Danny asks, “And what? She gets a slap on the wrist? She gets a firm scolding. She killed people! She should be in jail!”  
Perry nods in agreement, “She should most certainly be in jail.” She looks over at LaFontaine who hasn’t been paying attention for a while and is doing something on their phone. Perry frowns, annoyed, “Tell him, honey.” Perry nudges LaFontaine with her elbow, but LaFontaine is too focused on what they are doing.  
Perry looks even more annoyed, “LaFontaine, what are you doing?”  
LaFontaine looks up at her after finally registering that Perry was speaking to them, “What? Sorry?”  
Perry sighs, “LaFontaine, we are in the middle of something right now. What could possibly be on your phone that’s more important than this?”  
LaFontaine grins and says, “Hold on.” They raise their finger and everyone is quiet for a moment, “Just a second. There we go.” They walk over to Mr. Smith and suddenly several guns are pointed at them, “Whoa, hold up guys. I just want to show him something.”  
Mr. Smith nods to the guards and they lower their weapons.  
“Thank you.” LaFontaine says, shaking their head, “Jumpy aren’t we.”  
“Can you really blame us?” Mr. Smith asks as he gestures to everything around them.  
LaFontaine shrugs, “I guess not.” They step forward and hold up their phone, “You said you wanted proof that the Dean has been behind all this, that she has been planning since day one to perform horrific acts on the supernatural students of this campus. Well, here you go.” They press the play button on a video on their phone and suddenly the Dean’s voice can be heard blaring out.  
“You are vile, so very vile and disgusting. I don’t know how anyone could ever love you. I still don’t think they could without you mesmerizing them. I think you are a monster who preys on young girls. A pervert. You should be burned alive.”  
The Dean listens to the tirade the Dean is on and they can see his eyes widen from behind his sunglasses, “Oh…oh my.”

 

Lower levels of the library

 

“We’re lost.” Laura says as they pass through a room they’ve been in before.  
“We’re not lost.” Carmilla says.  
“We’ve been in here three times already.” Laura says.  
“That doesn’t mean we’re lost.” Carmilla counters, “This place shifts and changes so much, just because we’ve been in a room twice doesn’t mean we’re going in circles.” She opens up the door and they enter another room they’ve been in before, one that has also followed the room they were in before.  
Laura gestures to the room as proof, “We are going in circles.” She whines.  
Carmilla frowns, “How can that be? There are no splits or forks. We shouldn’t be back here again.” They step through another door and enter into another familiar room. However, this time there are two doors instead of one.  
“Wait a second, was that door here before?” Laura asks, pointing to the new door, which also looks familiar.  
“No.” Carmilla says.  
Laura walks over to it, but Carmilla grabs her arm, “I don’t like this Laura. I say we go through that door.” She points to the one they’ve been to before several times.  
“It’s just going to lead us back to the bee room.” Laura says with a groan, “I don’t want to go back to the bee room.” She begins to pull Carmilla towards the new door, “Come on.”  
Carmilla hesitates, but then relents, “Fine.”  
She opens the door and groans, “Aw man, it’s the lake monster room again. What is this? What is happening?!” Laura shouts the last part and slams the door closed.  
“I don’t know. This has never happened before.” Carmilla says and walks over to Laura, putting a hand on her shoulder to give her support.  
Laura sighs, “I think we should go into the lake monster room again. Cause I can’t deal with those bees for a fourth time.”  
Carmilla sighs and nods, “Alright, but I don’t really see what good that will do. We’ll just be back at a dead end.”  
“I know, but maybe another door will appear. Or maybe when we walk back through this one it’ll be a different room.” Laura says, “I say we try it. It can’t hurt…right?”  
“I don’t know if it can’t hurt.” Carmilla says, “But…I don’t see what other choice we have.”  
Laura then opens up the door again and peers inside. It’s still the room with the Leviathan. She sighs and shakes her head, “I hate this school.”  
“You and me both, Cupcake.” Carmilla says and they step back into the room with all the broken machinery.  
They proceed to shut the door behind them and then Laura spins around and whips it open again. It’s the same as it was before and Laura groans.  
“We’re never leaving. We’re never getting out of here.” Laura says and puts her head in her hands.  
Carmilla wraps a reassuring arm around her girlfriend’s shoulder and says, “We’ll figure this out Creampuff.”  
Laura pulls her hands away and look at Carmilla. She suddenly begins to laugh. It starts off as a small giggle, but it grows and grows until she’s bent over laughing hysterically with Carmilla watching her concerned.  
“Cupcake? What’s so funny? Are you okay?” Carmilla asks.  
Laura calms herself down enough to answer, “I was just…laughing at…well…when did you…become the optimist?”  
“I am not an optimist. I am a realist.” Carmilla says.  
“I don’t know. You’ve been pretty upbeat all semester…well upbeat for you that is. Helping people, caring about people, saving people. I mean, you did most of that without me there to bug you to do it.” Laura comments.  
“So, what’s your point?” Carmilla asks.  
“Nothing it’s just…I’m proud of you is all.” Laura says.  
“Proud of me?” Carmilla asks and despite herself, feels a rush of emotion flow through her.  
Laura leans in and kisses Carmilla on the lips, “Yes Carm, proud of you. Do you remember what you said to me over a year ago, when Betty went missing.”  
“I said many things to you.” Carmilla says, “But I’m thinking you have a particular moment in mind.”  
“You asked me if I really thought I was doing any good. You told me I was a child and I understood nothing. Not about life, not about this place, and certainly not about what it takes to survive in this world.” Laura says and Carmilla looks almost angry at herself for saying such a thing to Laura, but Laura just smiles at her, “But look at you now, look how much you’ve grown since then, how much you’ve changed since then.”  
“How much dumber I’ve become since then.” Carmilla finishes and Laura shoves her playfully.  
“Not dumb, hopeful.” Laura comments.  
“Tomato, tomahto.” Carmilla says and then adds, “I remember saying that to you. I do. But do you remember what you said back to me?”  
“Vaguely.” Laura says.  
“You told me that the world sucked.” Carmilla says and Laura looks taken aback.  
“I don’t think…” Laura begins and Carmilla holds up a finger to interrupt her.  
“Let me finish.” Carmilla says, “You told me that you never expected bad things to happen, but they did because the world sucks and this university sucks.” Laura raises an eyebrow at her and Carmilla laughs, “I’m paraphrasing. But you also said that, that doesn’t mean you have to accept it. You said that you deserved better. Betty deserved better. Even after I was so terrible to you, you told me that I deserved better. And I think that moment was when I really saw you for the first time. I saw that you were a person worth fighting for and I hadn’t met anyone worth fighting for in a very, very long time. I think that moment was a turning point for me. Those words you said, they were like a seed you planted inside of me. And that seed sat there and every moment I was with you, you watered it and nourished it, until it began to sprout and grow. And the seed spread its tendrils out and through me and it slowly ate away at the darkness in my heart, it slowly broke down the walls that I had built up. Then it continued to grow and grow and became strong enough to flourish on its own, making slow and almost imperceptible changes in me, until one day I looked in the mirror and saw someone happy. But more than happy, I saw someone who could be good.” Carmilla smiles at Laura and then continues, “And don’t get me wrong, I’m never going to be nice. I’m never going to be friendly. I’m never going to be warm. But I can be good. And that’s because of you.”  
Laura smiles at Carmilla and leans in to kiss her. Their lips connect and its powerful and wonderful and emotional and neither of them wanted it to end. But it had to. They parted after several moments and looked at one another with a new light, like they were seeing each other again for the first time.  
“I love you.” Carmilla says.  
“I love you too.” Laura replies.  
“What say you and I get out of here and share that love.” Carmilla says and raises an eyebrow.  
“Lead the way.” Laura says almost breathlessly.  
They both turn towards the door they came from, hoping it’s a new room. They open it up and Laura let’s out a long sigh. The room is the same as before. Carmilla slams the door closed this time and let’s out a string of curses.  
Laura sighs and begins to pace the room. There has to be a way out. There has to be something they’re missing. Laura looks out across the lake and spots a door on the opposite shore.  
“Hey!” Laura says and points, “Over there!” She suddenly feels a new energy flow through her.  
Carmilla looks up and sees the door, but she shakes her head, “We don’t want to go in there Cupcake.”  
“Why not?” Laura asks.  
“Trust me. Nothing good is in there.” She replies.  
“It may be our only way out though.” Laura says, “Come on Carm, we have to try. Who knows, maybe it’ll lead us to the upper level.”  
“Look who is being optimistic now.” Carmilla says smirking and then the smirk fades to a scowl , “But I don’t like this. I feel like we’re being railroaded. Forced here. Like someone is playing us like chess pieces and moving us around the board.”  
“You think it’s a trap.” Laura says.  
“I think it might be fate.” Carmilla says.  
“Whoa, way to be melodramatic.” Laura says laughing, but stops when she sees how serious Carmilla is, “I mean , we could try going back the other way and see if the other rooms have changed.”  
“I don’t think it’ll make a difference.” Carmilla says and walks towards the recently repaired bridge across the lake, “So let’s just get this over with.” Laura jogs over to her and they link hands, walking across the newly constructed bridge side by side.


	70. I have many names

Carmilla and Laura make their way across the bridge without any problems. Carmilla eyes the water with trepidation at first, even though she knows the leviathan is currently napping. Flashes of her being dragged under the surface, her throat and chest burning with the need for oxygen, her arms flailing around in the deep abyss rip through her mind and she tightens her hand around Laura’s. Laura squeezes back reassuringly, noticing the look on Carmilla’s face. Carmilla lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and looks ahead to the door.   
The door itself is thick, wooden, and looks very, very old. This time she notices strange ruins carved into the wood and filled in with some kind of dull, black paint that has faded over the years. She takes a sniff and realizes the paint isn’t paint at all, but blood. Dread wells up in her stomach again.  
She walks towards the door and examines the symbols, hoping to be able to read them, but she doesn’t recognize the language.   
“What does it say?” Laura asks as she approaches.  
“I don’t know.” Carmilla says, “All I know is that its very old.”  
She touches one of the symbols and feels a jolt of something go up her arm. She pulls her hand away quickly.  
The two look at each other nervously now, Laura beginning to feel uneasy the closer they move towards the door.  
“I don’t like this.” Laura says.  
“Me neither.” Carmilla says and then places her hand back on the door and pushes it open. The door creaks open slowly and they enter the room.  
Carmilla notes the room looks the same as the first time she entered it. Its warm and comfortable and as she turns to look at Laura and sees the look on her face, she thinks about how she was right, Laura would like this room.  
Laura seems to smile despite herself and says, “This is the nicest room we’ve been in so far. I don’t understand what’s so bad about it.” She walks forward into the room. She gets about halfway in before Carmilla grabs the back of her shirt and pulls her back. The illusion fades and suddenly they are standing at the lip of a howling chasm. Laura takes a step back and clutches Carmilla tightly.  
“Never mind.” Laura says and then gasps as she sees something moving in the shadows, “Carm…something is out there.”  
“I know.” Carmilla says darkly, watching the shadows move and swirl.  
A dark laughter starts from the bottom of the pit and then rises up, surrounding them. Carmilla feels Laura grip her even tighter.  
The laughter stops after a few moments and then a swirling mass of shadows rises out of the pit and flows around and above them.  
“Hello vampire.” The voice says sounding slightly amused, “Or should I say not so much a vampire.”  
“Can it demon.” Carmilla snaps, “Why are we here?”  
The voice laughs and it sends shivers up both their spines, though Carmilla tries not to show it, “Why are you here? Do you not know?”  
Carmilla groans and would throttle the thing if she felt it would do any good, “Not this again. No, we are not playing games. We want out of here and it seems like this was the only place to go. My feeling is you had a hand in that.”  
“Smart girl.” The voice says, “Gold star for the no so much a vampire.”  
“Carm…” Laura whispers, “I don’t understand what’s happening. What is this thing?”  
“A pain in my ass.” Carmilla mutters and the voice laughs, full and loud.  
“Oh you do amuse me former creature of the night, yes you do.” The voice says, “Your mother was right about you.”  
Carmilla stiffens and her face goes from annoyed, to confused and angry, “What the hell are you talking about? You knew my mother?”   
“Your mother of the afterlife, yes.” The voice says, “We go…way back as they say.”  
“That still doesn’t tell us who you are.” Laura says and then adds, “So…who are you?”  
“Always the intrepid reporter, are we not human Laura.” The voice says chuckling, “But to answer your question, I go by many names and have been called many things. A demon, a monster, example of unrighteousness, first born child, brother, murderer, the first evil, cursed one, one left to wander. But my name itself, I cannot speak. So that will have to do.”  
Laura’s eyes are wide by the end of it, “Hold on. Did you say first evil?” She whips around to face Carmilla, “He said first evil. First Evil! Oh my god, oh my god.” She sounds more excited than frightened.   
It takes Carmilla a moment to realize what is happening and then she slaps a palm to her forehead when she does, “Laura! Really?”  
The voice actually sounds confused as it speaks next, “I am afraid, for once, I do not understand what is happening. I must admit, it has been a long time since I have felt this way.”  
“You’re the First Evil! Like from Buffy!” Laura shouts out excited, “You’re The First!”   
If a smoke demon could roll its eyes, it would be rolling its eyes right now, “Ugh, that tripe. Giving ancient evils a bad name. Defeated by a bunch of humans, a witch, and a vampire. Pathetic evil.”  
“Don’t you dare call Buffy tripe!” Laura hisses out, nearly lunging at the smoke monster. Carmilla has to hold her back.  
“Besides, I am not actually the first evil.” The voice says, “There were a few before me. But people put a lot of importance on what I did.”  
“You’re not like…the devil are you?” Laura asks and the voice laughs loud again.  
“No, no, of course not.” The voice says, “Though I find it amusing you thought so.”  
Carmilla crosses her arms over her chest and scowls, “So Mr. Not the First Evil, why the hell are we down here.”  
“Ah, I knew you would return.” The voice says.  
“Well I’m not down here to get my girlfriend obviously, she’s right…” Carmilla begins, but the voice cuts her off.  
“Not you, no so much a vampire anymore, her.” The voice says and swirls around them as if to point.  
Carmilla and Laura whip around, not having heard anyone else come in. They freeze in place as they see the Dean, holding a real gun pointed at the both of them.


	71. Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Threats of Violence, Some Nasty Language, Bad Stuff

“I should have known I would find you down here, meddling with everything, ruining everything.” The Dean snaps out at Carmilla, “That is all you ever do, ruin things. Everything you touch falls to pieces in your wake.” She then turns to Laura, “I would take note of that dear.”  
“How dare you…” Laura begins, but Carmilla interrupts her and steps in front of her as she does so.  
“What do you want?” Carmilla asks, “What are you even doing in here?”  
“Yes dear Viktoria, what are you doing here?” The voice asks in a mocking tone, like it already knows.  
Carmilla looks the Dean up and down and notes how truly deranged see looks at this moment. Her dirty blonde hair which is normally secured in a tight, prim bun behind her head is now loose and matted, and looks as if a family of squirrels has recently taken residence in it. She is covered in a thick layer of dirt and debris that is smeared across her face, ruining her normally impeccable makeup, and has settled all over her fine pants suit. Or her once fine pants suit, as it has many tears and holes in it, and a few scorch marks.  
But that is not what makes her look deranged, that is just the icing on the cake. What makes her look like she has completely lost it are the eyes and the expression she is wearing on her face. Her eyes burn, burn with such a fury that Carmilla can barely keep contact with them. It’s almost physically painful to look at them, like they scorch her flesh every time they bore into her. Like the feeling she has when she’s out in the sun too long, prickling and raw, and completely unguarded. She no longer hides her hatred behind disgust or disappointment. It has burned through those emotions and radiates out from her in a nearly palpable wave.  
No longer does the Dean wear her mask on her face anymore, the mask she has kept up in public for these many months. The mask of an administrator, a leader, a soldier, an agent, whatever it may have been is gone. And it has not slipped from her features slowly, but it has been shattered away. It has cracked violently, like she has.  
She looks absolutely and completely unhinged and that alone makes Carmilla shudder slightly, but on top of that she is pointing a gun at them, and Carmilla has no doubt that she plans on using it. Actually Carmilla is surprised she hasn’t already.  
“I’m here for you, Miss Karnstein.” The Dean says and despite her manic appearance, her voice is cold and lacking all emotion and that just makes things so much worse.  
“You’re here to kill me.” Carmilla says and it isn’t a question, “So then do it already.”  
“Carm!” Laura yelps out.  
The Dean laughs, but there is no mirth there, only a sinister sensation that makes Carmilla shudder again, “I am not here to kill you Miss Karnstein…at least not yet.” Her eyes flick over to Laura and Laura quivers slightly, “I am here to kill her.”  
Carmilla, already standing in front of Laura, spread her arms out as if that would add extra protection.  
Her eyes flash with a fury that almost rivals the Dean’s own, but when she speaks there is certainly no lack of emotion. Her voice growls out, low, and deep, dangerous, like a predator sending out a warning, like hackles raised. Her teeth are bared as she speaks and anyone looking at her can see just the tips of her fangs dipping down, “If she leaves here with so much as a paper cut, I will hang you upside down by chains and flay you slowly over the course of several months. And believe me, you will be alive and conscious the entire time. And when you are dead finally, after all that time, when death has finally freed you from me. I will turn you. I will turn you into my kind, into one of us, that which you despise so much. And I will repeat that process, I will flay you again and again, allowing you to heal just enough, so that you do not die a second time. That way I can continue to torture you for all eternity.”  
The room goes dead silent for a good thirty seconds and even Laura is a little stunned by this admission. The Dean looks shocked and doesn’t know how to respond.  
“Hells bells, that was violent.” The voice laughs, “I love it. You are my favorite not so much a vampire.”  
The Dean is shaken out of her dumbfounded trance and the fury returns to her being. She holds the gun pointed at Carmilla, “You do not scare me Miss Karnstein.”  
“Do I not?” Carmilla says tilting her head to the side, her facial expression becoming wholly inhuman and eerie in its alieness. The Dean shudders this time, but keeps the fire inside herself burning.  
“No, you do not.” The Dean says, “But you should fear me. Because I will make you suffer, like I suffered. I will kill the one you love most, like you killed who I loved most. And you will feel my pain Mircalla. You will feel my pain. And then, when you are a broken wreck of a being, I will kill you.”  
“What is this? The threat Olympics.” Laura comments, “This is ridiculous.”  
Carmilla is about to add something when LaFontaine’s voice pierces her thoughts and LaFontaine tells her that the battle has stopped and things are calming down.  
“So, what’s the plan here Miss Zamloch?” Carmilla asks, putting on an apathetic air, her voice becoming dull and bored, her eyes wandering away from the Dean, “Shoot Laura? Kill me. And then what? Walk out of here with a skip in your step?”  
“Maybe not a skip, but certainty a smile.” The Dean says.  
“Cause I don’t think that’s going to go the way you want it to.” Carmilla says.  
“What does that mean?” The Dean asks and as she says this her radio crackles to life.  
“Ma’am, it looks like most of the fighting has stopped. The mediators are being rounded up. Looks like the supernatural students have won.” The military like voice says, “What should we do ma’am? What are your orders?”  
The voice over the radio barely finishes before the Dean begins shouting at Carmilla, “How dare you! How dare you!” The Dean bellows, “You have ruined everything! Again! My whole life ruined again because of you! After everything I sacrificed to finally get my revenge, to finally see you perish and see me win, you come in and destroy it all. I was so close, so very close to being rid of your kind for good. For making this world a better place because you were not in it. You filthy, disgusting fiend. Spawn of Satan himself. How you walk this Earth without punishment I will never know. You wicked ,fowl thing.”  
As the Dean continues to shout Carmilla gets a message from LaFontaine that some helicopters are flying in and that they believe it’s the organization. Carmilla tells them, her and Laura’s situation with the Dean. Then Carmilla whispers to Laura, “Turn on that camera cutie, I think it might come in handy.”  
Laura nods and fumbles with the camera, nearly dropping it as she points it at the apoplectic Dean.  
“You are vile, so very vile and disgusting. I don’t know how anyone could ever love you. I still don’t think they could without you mesmerizing them. I think you are a monster who preys on young girls. A pervert. You should be burned alive.” The Dean rants, “I will have you burned alive. I will. For everything you have done to me and continue to do. Everything bad that has ever happened to me all stems from you and your monstrous ways. I…”  
“Hey!” Laura shouts, “Shut up! God, just shut up! I am tired of listening to your idiotic, hate filled, bigoted garbage. You cannot seriously think that everything bad in your life is Carmilla’s fault. You cannot seriously think that! Yes, perhaps your sister’s death is in part her fault, but that was a different time and a different person and she felt trapped in what she was doing. It doesn’t excuse it really but…”  
“Laura…” Carmilla says.  
“Right, sorry.” Laura says, “But she never pretended all she did was for the greater good. She never pretended that it was someone else’s fault, but her own. She put that weight on herself until it nearly crushed her beneath it and she still wears it to this day. She still is seeking redemption for everything she has done, not really ever expecting to find it. But you! You place ever bad thing you’ve ever done on her, like her one bad act justifies everything you’ve ever done. Like your sister dying is any excuse for murder and destruction and illicit experimentation. Or if its not her fault, then its for the betterment of the world. Like the ends justify the means! Well no more. I am sick and tired of this shit. Of you blaming all these innocent people for your own wicked deeds and twisted mind. I know that bad things have happened to you, but that does not mean you get to do bad things to other people. There was someone good inside of you once, I have to believe that to be true. So let’s end this here. It’s over. The battle is done. Let’s not make this any worse than it already is. Let’s stop this madness. Stop this cycle of hate and revenge, right here, right now. Come on now, I have to believe you regret everything that has happened. Come on.”  
The Dean hesitates before speaking again, as if suddenly lost in thought. But when she comes back to herself her words are no less venomous than they were before, “I regret nothing. Not inciting a race war. Not letting loose all those alchemy creatures and all the student deaths that followed. Not starting a riot or killing some of my own people in the process, not experimenting on monsters and watching them die one by one, not trying to cleanse this world of every last one of them. And I will certainly not regret killing you Miss Hollis. You pathetic, insignificant sniveling girl. I will kill you. I swear to god I will kill you.”  
“And that’s a wrap.” Carmilla says clapping her hands together, a smirk playing across her face, “What do you think, cupcake? You think that was enough to convict her?”  
“What?” The Dean says stunned.  
Laura nods as she clicks some buttons on her camera, “Yep, I think so. I mean, that whole I regret nothing speech was perfect, like the perfect confession. Couldn’t have directed a better moment myself.”  
“What are you talking about?” The Dean says, “Your stupid camera? Do you think that’s going to stop me? Who cares about what I just said? Who will you even show it to?”  
The Dean’s radio crackles to life once more and the same voice comes over again, “Ma’am, our organization is here….err….Mr. Smith is here. He’s sent soldiers down to collect you and the two students. He uh…told us to stand down…what…what’s going on here ma’am? What should we do?” The voice says.  
The Dean freezes in place, actually looks like she freezes. She stops moving, stops breathing, stops even blinking for a little while. Then Carmilla watches something, some emotion makes its way quickly across her face, but its too quick to make out. But if Carmilla had to bet, she’d bet it was fear. The Dean was afraid.  
The Dean’s frozen nature subsides quickly and she’s suddenly very animated. She grabs the radio off her belt and hurls it at the wall where it shatters into pieces. She then let’s loose a stream of curse words, stamping her feet, and balling up her fists like a child throwing a tantrum.  
“Whoa Miss Zamloch, you should really watch your language.” Carmilla comments, a smug tone to her voice.  
The Dean whips around to face Carmilla and if Carmilla thought she looked deranged before, well she was damn wrong. The Dean stands there, breathing hard, eyes wild and unfocused, she raises her gun again and stalks forward towards Carmilla. Laura tries to shove Carmilla out of the way, but Carmilla stands firmly in place.  
“You!” She screeches, “Scheming, murderous whore! You conniving, treacherous snake! I will rip out that vile tongue of yours and feast upon it for dinner!”  
“Ew.” Laura, Carmilla, and the voice say simultaneously.  
“Glad I didn’t get that on film.” Laura says, continuing to fiddle with her camera.  
“It doesn’t matter!” The Dean yells, “No one will see that footage! Neither of you are getting out of here alive! And then it will be my word against theirs! That footage will be forever lost in the dark, depths of the…”  
“And send.” Laura says and clicks another button on her camera.  
“Wh…what?” The Dean stutters out, “What just happened?”  
“Oh, I just sent the video to LaFontaine.” Laura says, “This cave thingy gets really good Wi-Fi.”  
Carmilla holds her fingers to her temple and says, “And they appear to be showing it to some guy named Mr. Smith. Oooh and apparently he does not seem happy. Haha, you’re fucked.”  
The Dean proceeds to lose it, pulling out her hair, and clawing at her skin, as she rants and raves like a lunatic, “I will claw out your eyeballs! I will peel away flesh from bone! I will destroy everything you hold dear, starting with the stupid little fangbanging twat you call a girlfriend.”  
Carmilla’s entire body tenses up. The Dean rounds on her, stepping forward.  
“ I will cut her heart out and make you eat it.” The Dean says stepping forward again.  
“Double ew.” The voice adds.  
With each word, the Dean punctuates it with a step towards her, “I will make you drink her blood and you will watch me destroy her from the inside out. I am going to torture the little cu….”  
Faster than the eye can see, Carmilla slugs the Dean across the face. There is a sickening crack as Carmilla feels The Dean’s bones break under her fist. The strike is hard enough to send the Dean sprawling backward.  
“Don’t you ever, EVER, call my girlfriend that, ever again!” Carmilla shouts.  
The Dean is howling on the ground, clutching her broken face.  
Carmilla spits on the Dean and turns to the voice, “Can we go now?”  
The voice says, “You could always leave.”  
Carmilla rolls her eyes and grabs Laura’s hand, “Come on buttercup, let’s go.” They walk towards the door and Carmilla throws a kick at the Dean’s abdomen, hearing a satisfying crunch as she breaks ribs. She then continues on her way.  
She reaches for the door, when a shot rings out, but it goes wide and strikes the door. Carmilla goes rigid and then turns around slowly, coming to stand in front of Laura again. She isn’t sure of whether that was a warning shot or the Dean just missed because her face is bleeding.  
“Where do you think you’re going?!” The Dean shrieks as she tries to get to her feet, gun still pointed at them, her other hand holding her face, “Where the fuck do you think you’re going! This isn’t over Karnstein! This isn’t over!”  
“Oh, I think it is.” Carmilla says.  
The Dean’s eyes drift to the shadows, “I’m ready.”  
“For what dear Viktoria?” The voice asks innocently.  
The Dean’s eyes narrow and she scowls, “You once offered me power. Power to seek my revenge. Power to bring about a better world. Power even to bring my sister back. I did not take it then for I was young and naïve and thought I could do this without you. I no longer think that. I have nothing to lose anymore. So please, help me.”  
“Just the way I like them, desperate and begging for me.” The voice says laughing.  
“You sick fuck.” Carmilla snarls and the voice laughs even louder.  
The Dean continues, “I’ve done what you’ve asked. The Dean is dead. The fish is dead. The leviathan sleeps. The sacrifices have been made. Now give me the power I crave.”  
The voice chuckles darkly and says, “Do not pretend this is part of some long and convoluted scheme you created to fulfill my wishes. You never intended to return here Viktoria. But when things when to hell upstairs, you figured, since all my conditions were met, you might as well try and play it off as your doing. But you barely did anything? Did you? They did.” The voice indicates Carmilla and Laura  
“What?” Laura says turning to the smoke, “We didn’t do anything.”  
“Yes, you did.” The voice says, “She killed her mother. The woman who imprisoned me here. You killed Lophiliformes, one of my guardians. You lead people into battle, to get them killed. The only thing you did Viktoria was put that stupid leviathan to sleep. And perhaps incite a few attacks. But do not act as though you planned this. I know what lies in your heart. You may have been desperate and filled with rage, but you weren’t desperate enough to come free me…until now.”  
“So what? So what if I didn’t do it all for you? It’s done.” The Dean hisses out, “Does that change anything for you?”  
“I suppose it doesn’t.” The voice says, “If you are just as willing.”  
“Hold up. What is happening right now?” Laura says, “Are you actually going to free this super evil creature that was imprisoned by Carmilla’s mother the queen of all things evil? Are you insane? Are you stupid?”  
The Dean stalks forward, gun pointed right at Carmilla’s head, “Do you think your girlfriend could survive a bullet to the head right about now? Cause I have been waiting a long, long time for this and I am millimeters away from pulling the trigger. But I need her to suffer and I don’t want to end this too soon. So I can’t kill her now. But one more word out of your stupid whiny mouth and I will not hesitate in splattering her brains all over your nice plaid shirt.” Laura shuts her mouth, “Anything you want to say Miss Hollis? Anything? Good. Keep it that way.”  
She turns back to the voice, “Oh demon of the dark abyss. Oh old one among old ones. Oh child first born. Oh being of the pure evil of humanity. Oh holder of many names too dark and fowl to speak upon this world. I call unto thee. I call unto thee to make and fulfill a deal proposed long ago. I humble myself before thee great dark one and ask that though shall grant my wish and in return I shall free you from this tormented cage which you were placed in eons ago.”  
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. You don’t have to go into all that. I may be old and evil, but I’m not an egotist.” The voice pauses and then says, “Oh no, wait I am. Continue.” The Dean continues to praise it.  
“We have to stop this.” Laura whispers to Carmilla, “We can’t let her free it.”  
“I know that.” Carmilla whispers back, “But how are we going to stop her? She’s got a gun trained on us and I’m pretty sure we’re both pretty squishy right now.”  
“Can you turn into a panther? Set things on fire? Teleport? Run really fast? Something?” Laura says and Carmilla shakes her head at all of that.  
“I’m like Usain Bolt fast, not superhuman fast right now.” Carmilla says, “Still can’t outrun a speeding bullet.”  
“We have to do something.” Laura says looking panicked, desperate, “We can distract her somehow.”  
“How?” Carmilla asks.  
“I don’t know.” Laura says.  
“Hey, Deanie!” Carmilla shouts and the Dean barely spares her a look, “I fucked your sister, a lot. And I knew she loved me. But I didn’t love her back. I used her. I didn’t even have to sleep with her to give her to my mother. I just did it cause I could. Cause she was so easy!”  
“How dare you, bitch!” She spins towards Carmilla, but the shadows reach down and caress the Dean’s cheek.  
“Dear Viktoria, ignore her. She is just trying to rile you up. Finish the ritual. Then you shall seek your revenge.” The voice says, almost cooing at her like a baby.  
The Dean nods, almost in a trance and continues.  
“I killed her!” Carmilla shouts, “I didn’t just hand her over to my mother to die. I was the one who did it. And I loved every second of it. Feeding her soul to Lophiliformes, watching her squirm, and scream, and yell, and cry out for me over and over as she died, it was amazing.”  
There’s a gunshot and Carmilla lets out a grunt and collapses to her knees.  
“Carmilla!” Laura wails and drops down next to her.  
“It’s okay Creampuff.” Carmilla says through gritted teeth, “Just a flesh wound.” She indicates her grazed left bicep which is oozing blood. Laura helps her back to her feet. The door slams open behind them and several heavily armed men, dressed in black burst through the door. They see the gun in the Dean’s hands.  
“Freeze!” one of them shouts, “Drop you’re weapon!”  
“You’re too late.” The voice says laughing and suddenly the entire room goes dark as shadows fill every corner. There’s yelling and then gunfire rattles off around them and Laura and Carmilla cover their ears and sink down low. It stops after a moment.  
The light comes back all at once and blinds them for a second. Once they can see properly again, they spot the Dean, standing where she was before, facing them now. But she has a look on her face, which is very unlike her. She is smiling wide, but the look is beyond sinister.  
“I’m free.” The Dean says, but the sound of the voice comes out when she speaks. And then her image shimmers, almost like a hologram, and then disappears in a thin puff of black smoke.  
There’s silence all around them for several seconds and then they hear what sounds like hundreds of pained screams coming from above them.  
Then the whole room begins to shake and quiver and rocks begin to tumble down around them.  
“We need to get out of here, right now.” Carmilla says.  
Laura nods and wrenches open the door behind them. She gasps as she sees the room with the leviathan shaking as well and then suddenly the room folds in on itself, like its made of paper, and winks out of existence in a matter of seconds. She watches hundreds of rooms beyond this one, floating in a dark void follow suit, folding in on themselves, and disappearing altogether in the blink of an eye. There’s some screams and cries from the rooms, but anyone or anything inside them barely has time to make a noise before the room pops out of existence.  
“Oh shit.” Carmilla says.  
“I think all that extra evil that was keeping this place alive just disappeared with the Dean’s body.” Laura says and Carmilla nods next to her, slack jawed, eyes wide. Laura turns to Carmilla, fearful, “Carm, how do we get out of here before that happens to us?” She points to the rooms disappearing.  
Carmilla looks around their room for another door, another exit, anything, but she doesn’t see one. She isn’t sure how they are going to get out of this one, when one of the soldiers next to her gets on the radio.  
“Sir, we’re going to need an extraction, ASAP.” He says into it and then there’s a pause, “I’m hoping those rules don’t apply anymore. Cause otherwise, we’re screwed.”  
There’s a long pause and nothing happens. Carmilla is about to ask about what the hell he’s blathering on about, when suddenly a glowing circle with symbols on it appears beneath their feet.  
“Hang on tight kiddos.” The soldier says, “This isn’t going to be fun…even if we make it through in one piece.”  
Laura clutches Carmilla to her and Carmilla does the same.  
“I love you.” Laura says.  
“I love you too Laura.” Carmilla replies as they lock eyes with one another, a tingling sensation running through their bodies and their hair standing on end. There’s a crackling sound, like static electricity and then a bright white light flows around them. They close their eyes and rest their heads on each other’s shoulders. The tingling sensation increases until it’s painful, like pins and needles, sharp stabbing needles, and Carmilla can hear Laura cry out. She holds her closer. The shaking around them grows more violent and the room begins to fold in on itself. And then everything goes dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost there everyone, almost there. I know this is a long one, whew.


	72. What do we do?

There was nothing, for what felt like a really long time or maybe it was no time at all. She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that it was just her thoughts and nothing else. For a moment she couldn’t even remember who or what she was, but then everything came flooding back and with that came panic. Why couldn’t she move or see or hear or touch or taste or smell or anything? Where was her body? Where was Laura’s? Where was she? Had the spell gone wrong? Had it destroyed her body, leaving her as nothing, but a floating consciousness?  
As time passed or didn’t pass, she found that her senses slowly began to return, dull and faint at first, but growing in intensity as time went on. She could hear this soft hum that every once in a while was punctuated by louder, sharper sounds. She thought those might be explosions. There was definitely people talking, maybe even yelling she couldn’t be sure.   
There were smells too. It smelled faintly of copper and gunpowder and something else, something bad.   
And then she felt her, it was still faint, still only a light touch, but she felt her right there, in her arms. And she sighed a breath of a relief. And then sighed another breath of relief as she realized she still had lungs to breathe with.   
She tried to speak, but nothing would come out. So she waited. She expected the gradual change to continue. She expected to slowly regain her senses bit by bit until she was whole again. But that didn’t quite happen.   
One moment, she was drifting into existence and the next there was a soft pop, the sound of static, and then it all came rushing at her at once. Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, everything. Everything felt bright and loud and sharp and painful and she could barely get her bearings on what was happening around her.   
She felt the ground beneath her feet and then felt as if the world was spinning, tilting out from underneath her. Her stomach rolled as the world rolled with her and she felt as if she were going to throw up. She managed to hold it in as she clutched on to Laura who she realized a moment later was letting out moans of her own.  
They held onto each other, like lifelines, their touch grounding each other, giving them a place to focus and ease back into being.   
The world around them was loud. Explosions, gunfire, buildings collapsing, people screaming, yelling, running.   
But it wasn’t the sounds that got to Carmilla first, it was the smell. The smell of blood and death was everyone and when Carmilla looked out at the gruesome scene before her, her stomach rolled again. This time she couldn’t hold it in and she ended up dropping to her knees and emptying what little she had in her stomach onto the cobblestones.  
Laura was at her side in an instant, holding her hair and rubbing soothing circles on her back.  
“Yeah, teleportation can do that to you if you’re not used to it.” A gruff voice came from near them and Carmilla recognized it as one of the soldiers.  
Carmilla didn’t really feel like correcting him and telling him that it wasn’t the teleportation, but the blood that was causing her to be ill. Instead she just wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand and shot him a glare.  
She slowly got to her feet with Laura’s help and steeled herself for the sights around her. But there would never be enough preparation for what she saw. Hundreds of bodies were strewn out across the courtyard with a variety of injuries. Blood and gore were everywhere. Blood was splattered all around them. It dripped and ran along the edges of the cobblestones.   
The school buildings were decimated. Those that weren’t currently a pile of rubble had giant holes in them or were leaning dangerously to one side. Carmilla couldn’t find a window that wasn’t smashed around them. The ground was pockmarked with holes and ditches and dents. Bricks, mortar, beams, even objects like desks and lamps and beds were just lying around everywhere. There was the remains of a helicopter smashed into one of the building. It looked like it had been tossed around, like a child to rough with a toy. And everything was coated in a layer of dust that was just floating around them, hanging in the very air.  
People were running and screaming, but it didn’t look like they knew where to go. It didn’t look like there was anywhere that was safe.  
Off in the distance near one of the still intact research towers they saw something human shaped flying through the air. It smashed through the building like it was nothing and came hurtling out the other side. The building shook slightly and then began to crumble right before their eyes as the flying figure laughed and flew off. Even with her weakened hearing, Carmilla could still hear the screams coming from inside and she felt her nausea resurface again for a whole new reason.  
She looked over at Laura who was watching with wide eyes and saw that she looked very pale. Carmilla couldn’t imagine how she herself looked, probably not much better.  
“Cupcake, are you okay?” Carmilla croaks out. She meant to sound soothing and concerned, instead she sounded distraught.  
“Look what we’ve done.” Laura says after a moment and Carmilla can see tears springing into the corners of her eyes.  
Carmilla steps forward in front of Laura, blocking her from looking at the destruction and grabs her face in her hands, “Listen to me Laura. This isn’t your fault.” She can see Laura hearing her words, but not believing them, “I know you like to blame yourself. The weight of the world on your shoulders and all that. But I need you to listen to me, here and now. Really listen to me. This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. Got it?” Laura looks into Carmilla’s eyes, the tears still looking like they’re about to flow, but Laura manages to nod her head.  
“Yes.” Laura chokes out.  
Carmilla nods too and let’s go of Laura’s face, “We have to go. We have to do…something.” She looks around at the human shaped blur which is still flying around, destroying everything in its path, “Something…” She says unsure of what they can really do.  
A moment later she hears LaFontaine’s voice in her head, “Karnstein? You there? You…alive?”  
“We’re alive.” Carmilla thinks back and she swears she can hear a sigh of relief inside her head.  
Laura’s radio comes on and so do several of the soldiers. The soldiers seem to be getting orders from their former Dean. Laura’s is spouting out mainly Danny’s voice.  
Carmilla ignores both for right now and focuses on LaFontaine.  
“Okay, well now that we know you’re okay….WHAT THE HELL KARNSTEIN?!” LaFontaine rages in her head and Carmilla visibly winces. There’s a pause and then LaFontaine speaks again, “Perry would also like to know what the hell. What did you guys do? What is…this?”  
“We didn’t do anything nerdlinger.” Carmilla snaps, “The Dean did. She released some super old demon thing and now its possessing her.”  
“That’s the Dean.” LaFontaine balks, “What the hell? So how do we stop her?”  
Carmilla doesn’t say anything in response.  
“Carmilla?” LaFontaine asks, “What do we do? This thing is killing everything in sight. We’re lucky we’re still alive, holed up here in tunnels under the Lustig. It hasn’t come here yet. But we can’t just sit here and hope it won’t. So what’s the plan? How do we stop it?”  
Carmilla doesn’t answer again and LaFontaine’s voice sounds even more desperate.  
“Carmilla…say something? Are you still there…what do we do? We can do something right? We can stop it? Can’t we?”  
“I don’t know.” Carmilla responds and looks up as another building collapses, “I don’t know.” She repeats.  
“….Shit.” LaFontaine says.


	73. Here's the part where you make a choice

They first figure out what the creature is up to. It isn’t just wreaking havoc for havoc’s sake, although it isn’t as though it doesn’t enjoy it. They figure out that all the bodies lying out in the quad are being formed into a shape. The outer layer a circle, with a strange triangular pattern on the inside. They recognize it as some kind of summoning circle.  
The Dean/creature combo catches Laura and Carmilla observing the circle, but doesn’t come after them. It hasn’t come after them at all since they appeared and seems to be intentionally leaving them alone. Carmilla is unsure whether this is a reward or a taunt.  
“I see you appreciating my handiwork.” The Dean/creature says, “I worked very hard on it. But don’t judge, it’s not quite finished yet.”  
“What are you doing?” Laura asks, ever the reporter, “Why are you doing this?”  
The demon laughs and says, “I’m so lonely human Laura. So very lonely. This world wasn’t built for one such as me.”  
“So…you’re leaving?” Laura asks hopefully.  
The demon laughs again, “Oh no human Laura, no, no. This world may not have been made for me, but I was born here. It is my home. And I think I’d like to do a little redecorating. For starters, a lot more screaming and fire.”  
“It’s a portal.” Carmilla says.  
“A prize for the not really a vampire anymore.” The demon says as it floats above them and then it gives them an almost concerned look, “I know you are very anxious to meet my friends, but give me some time. I just need a few more ingredients. Lots of blood. But as you can see…” It gestures to all the bodies, “…everyone is just so willing to give it up. Everyone is so very accommodating.”   
“You monster!” Laura shrieks, “You can’t do this! We won’t let you!”  
“But how will you stop me human Laura?” The demon asks, “What power do you have to stop me?” It laughs and then flies off, leaving the two standing there, unsure of what to do.  
They make their way down to the Lustig where many of the remaining students are hiding. Human, supernatural, mediator, whoever are all down here, huddled together, wide eyed and afraid.  
They meet up with the others who are looking rather worse for wear and somewhat defeated. They all stand silently in the room for what feels like a long time before there is a knock on the door.  
They open it up to find Mr. Smith with several soldiers standing outside.  
“I thought you were dead.” LaFontaine says after a moment.  
“Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” Mr. Smith says, a slight grin forming on his lips and Carmilla groans.  
He strides into the room past LaFontaine who scowls, “Okay fine, just come in then.”  
“Oh, I didn’t realize this was a private gathering.” Mr. Smith says, “Next time I’ll call ahead.” He then scowls at all of them. After a moment his scowl disappears and his face slackens, “So…what’s the plan?”  
They all look at him stunned for several seconds and then Perry says, “What do you mean what’s the plan? Isn’t this your job? Isn’t this what you do? Handle this sort of...” She waves her arms around, “…Mess? Don’t tell me you don’t know what to do! Do not tell me you don’t know what to do!”  
She looks absolutely distraught and LaFontaine walks over and wraps arm around her to try and calm her.  
“Curlicue over there has a point.” Carmilla says, “This is what you claim to do.”  
Mr. Smith hesitates and then clears his throat, “Yes well…these are…rather extenuating circumstances. Usually we have resources. Usually we have something prepared. We don’t…don’t have the capabilities to take on a demon of this magnitude on our own. We just…just don’t have the power.”  
“So you’re useless, as usual.” Carmilla says.  
“Now see here Miss Karnstein, this is not our doing this is not…” Mr. Smith trails off as Carmilla rushes at him. Several guns are aimed at her, but she ignores him and wraps a hand around his throat.  
“Stand down!” A soldier yells.  
“Say it.” Carmilla snarls out, “Say this isn’t your fault. Say that you’re not to blame for this. I really want to hear those words come out of your mouth. I want to see if you can say them with a straight face so I know how good a liar you are.”  
“Miss Karnstein…” Mr. Smith squeaks out.  
“Stand down!” The soldier shouts again.  
“Carm!” Laura says nervously as she eyes the encroaching soldiers.  
“Because all of this is your fault. Maybe not you specifically, but your organization. This super secret government agency with no name, no ties to anyone, or anything. Just bouncing around from place to place, stopping supernatural incidents or whatever it is you claim to do. But let me remind you that both times you people were here it ended disastrously. And this time specifically, is your fault completely. That demon out there was let lose by a woman in you employ. A bigoted, hateful woman who pitted students against each other for her own enjoyment and personal gain. And now she’s let lose one of the worst demons I’ve ever seen. And you people did what? Show up at the last minute? Manage to contain absolutely nothing! You sent here. You gave her all this power. And then you can’t even figure out how to clean up her mess. So tell me again how this isn’t your fault. Tell me how you never could have seen this coming. Because I did. I certainly did.” Carmilla snaps.  
Mr. Smith has the decency to look shamefaced and then shakes his head, “You’re right. This is our fault. We sent her here. We gave her free reign. We ignored the signs. We didn’t come until it was too late. This has been one of the worst catastrophes in our organizations entire history. And I…I don’t know how to fix it. I’m sorry.”  
Carmilla lets him go, but doesn’t step back, “Sorry isn’t good enough.” She growls out, “Sorry gets us nowhere. Tell me what you know about this thing.”  
“It was once human.” Mr. Smith says, “Eons ago it was human. We have a guess as to who it was, but it would only be a guess and not useful to us now. But it hasn’t been human for a long time. It’s a demon. How it became a demon we aren’t sure of either. Continued horrific acts through the ages corrupting its soul or making a pact with an even worse creature or something else, we don’t know. But we do know its old. Very old and very powerful. And scary enough that even your mother thought it was too evil to be out in the world. She imprisoned it here a long time ago. Or tried to. But it escaped over and over again. Until finally she was able to contain it. I don’t know how, but she did.”  
“Lophiliformes.” LaFontaine says.  
“What?”Mr. Smith says.  
“Lophiliformes.” LaFontaine repeats, “It was a guard. It was keeping that thing contained and we killed it.”  
“It was eating girls.” Danny says.  
"What do you think is worse?” LaFontaine asks, “Letting that thing eat five girls every twenty years or having that monster destroy the entire world?”  
“Don’t tell me you’re condoning what the Dean…former Dean did?” Danny asks.  
“No.” LaFontaine says, “But I can understand why she did it.”  
“We had to kill it.” Danny says, though she doesn’t sound quite as sure as before, “We had to.”  
“So great, all we have to do is find another elder god monster willing to sit here and be fed every twenty years and we’re golden.” Carmilla says and everyone looks at her. She rolls her eyes, “Did you think I was serious just then?”  
“Well…with you…” Gwen says trailing off.  
“Shut up, Mutt.” Carmilla grumbles.  
“Good comeback, fang face.” Gwen counters, “Or can we really even call you that anymore?”  
“Oh, you want to see fangs? Cause I’ve got fangs. And I can show them to you up real close and personal.” Carmilla snarls.  
“You going to give me a kiss?” Gwen asks and smacks her lips mockingly.  
“I’m going to give you a kiss with a fist.” Carmilla snaps and takes a step towards her.  
“Guys, shut up.” Danny says, “This is not the time.”  
Laura looks back at Mr. Smith and says, “This thing is a demon right?” and Mr. Smith nods, “We know how to handle demons don’t we? All that research we did last semester? All that stuff we did with Phil when we thought he might be an incubus.”  
“Right, the salt circle, the banishing ritual.” Phil says, “The blaming me for killing a bunch of girls.”  
“Get over it.” Carmilla snaps.  
“Wouldn’t all of that work?” Laura asks.  
Mr. Smith taps his chin with his finger and says, “Theoretically the salt circle might be able to imprison it. But it couldn’t just be a salt circle. It needs more than that. It needs be infused with a lot of magic to hold it there. But the problem isn’t so much holding it as it is banishing it. Most demons are from other plains of existence, other dimensions. When you banish them, you’re sending them back to their own dimension. This creature, this demon, is from our own dimension. If we try and banish him…I don’t think it’ll work. I think he’ll just end up right back here.”  
“But you’re saying we can hold it.” Danny says.  
Mr. Smith shrugs, “For a time, I don’t know how long.”  
“Couldn’t we like, try and imprison it back in the library?” Kirsch asks.  
“Lophiiformes is dead, remember?” Gwen says.  
“Oh right.” Kirsch says.  
“But there had to be more than Lophiliformes.” LaFontaine says, “I mean, we killed that thing and it didn’t escape.”  
“Some kind of magic was holding it.” Carmilla says, “But I assume Lophiliformes was a second line of defense. A guard dog for a chained prisoner.”  
“And the Leviathan was also holding it.” Laura says, “But that thing is probably dead now too.”  
Carmilla and LaFontaine look at one another and they both seem to be thinking the same thing.  
“The Leviathan!” LaFontaine shouts.  
“What about the Leviathan sweetie?” Perry asks.  
“This could work, this could work.” LaFontaine says pacing the room, “We’d just need…and then they could…but how do we…I mean I suppose that could…its risky, but…”  
“LaFontaine, you’re not making any sense, you’re not finishing any of your sentences.” Perry says, “Help me along here sweetie.” Perry places a hand on their shoulder and they stop and look at her. They look at everyone in the room, seeming surprised for a moment that they’re there.  
“Oh, what? Sorry Perr, everyone.” LaFontaine says and then looks fiercely at Mr. Smith, “You said this creature, this demon was once human right?”  
“Yes…what does that…” Mr. Smith says and then his eyes widen in realization, “That…that is an interesting idea Miss LaFontaine.”  
“What is an interesting idea?” Gwen asks, “What’s going on? Fill me in here guys.” She looks to Laura who shrugs.  
Carmilla leans over and says to Laura, “We’re going to try and make this thing human again. With Phase 2.”  
Laura’s eyes widen now too and a small smile creeps up onto her face, “Oh…wow.”  
“We have the drug. We have the weapons to deploy it. The only problems is, this creature is fast. Its fast and powerful and we have a limited supply of this drug left.” LaFontaine says, “How do we make sure that we hit our mark? How do we make sure we can get this thing?”  
“The salt circle.” Laura says, “He said that could work.” She points to Mr. Smith, “For a time at least. Maybe enough time to turn this thing?” She looks at Mr. Smith hopefully.  
He frowns and shrugs, “I don’t know. Like I said before a simple salt circle won’t hold this ting for more than a couple of seconds. We need magic and lots of it.”  
“How much magic?” Perry asks nervously, something in her tone that no one else notices, but LaFontaine. They look over at her concerned.  
“Well….normally we’d call in a high level mage for something like this. Someone to imbue the salt with stopping power or whatever you want to call it.” Mr. Smith says, “But we don’t really have that option right now, do we?”  
“We have a few magic users in the other rooms.” Danny says, “A couple of level twos and threes. Maybe together they could…”  
“Maybe…” Mr. Smith says, “But I’m not sure that’ll be enough. Normally I’d call in a level five mage or something like that. But…”  
“I’m a level six.” Perry says quietly.  
“What?” Mr. Smith says and everyone looks over at her.  
Perry clears her throat and speaks up, “I’m a level six.”  
“Perr, no, we talked about this before. You can’t…” LaFontaine begins, but Perry cuts them off with a wave of their hand.  
“Now is not the time to be cautious LaFontaine. We are facing Armageddon here. I can’t hide from what I am now, for fear of what I might become later. There may not even be a later.” Perry says.  
“But…but your mother.” LaFontaine says.  
“I am not her.” Perry says.  
LaFontaine grabs Perry’s hand and looks into her eyes, “I know.” They continue to look into her eyes searching for something. They seem to find it and nod, “I trust you.”  
Perry smiles softly at them and then looks back at Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith looks at her surprised, “You’re a level six witch?” Perry nods and Mr. Smith smiles, “Well now we may have a chance.”  
“What do I need to do?” Perry asks.  
“First, we need to find salt.” Mr. Smith says, “And lots of it.”

Carmilla, Laura, Perry, LaFontaine, and Mr. Smith with his associates have gathered the students hidden in the tunnels in one area. There are at least five hundred people in front of them, packed together, huddled with one another. But the group notes that this is only a very small fraction of the student body. Everyone is chatting nervously, until Carmilla steps up and clears her throat. The room goes silent rather quickly.  
Carmilla looks out at all them, all their worn, tired, scared faces and feels not for the first time, immensely tired herself.  
“I suppose this is the part where I’m supposed to give a rousing speech about community and coming together and all that.” Carmilla starts gruffly, “But I’ve never been one for speeches. So let me direct your attention to my girlfriend, who is one for speeches.” She gestures to Laura who steps forward.  
Laura clears her throat now and says, “Hi, my name is Laura Hollis. Some of you may not know me, some of you may. I don’t know. I think that some of you may have watched my videos from past semesters and some may have noticed my absence this semester. I’m sorry that I wasn’t here more to help with…all of this. I was gone for a good reason…what I thought was a good reason though.” She hesitates and feels a hand on her shoulder. She looks back to see Carmilla standing there, giving her a reassuring smile. Laura lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and turns back to the gathered students.  
“I know this semester has been long and hard. Sides were created where there once were none. Friends, family, lovers were torn apart and placed in opposition to one another. Tensions grew and grew until hatred was all that remained. Until we no longer could see that we were once united, once together. While the underlying reasons that allowed this schism to occur, that allowed once such as the Dean to create a divide, are not unfounded, and are not to be dismissed. The magnitude and direction these disagreements, these tensions took us was terrible and costly and should never have happened. But it did. Many of us have done awful things to one another this semester, awful, horrible things that looking back we’ll regret immensely. Perhaps we already do.” Laura looks back at her friends behind her and takes another deep breath, “We have forgotten who we were. We have forgotten why we are here at this school. As Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘A house divided cannot stand.’ So is it any surprise that we ended up here, with all this destruction? We are not at war with one another. There are not sides. We are all students of Silas University, all of us. We all came here to get an education, to find friends and build relationships, and have a good time. And we came here to find a place where we belong. But we lost that. We were played, tricked into fighting one another when the real enemy was amongst us all along. And now that enemy has done something horrible, well more horrible, something additionally horrible in a string of horrible things she has done. She has released a true monster onto this campus. She has been telling us all semester about the monsters among us, when really she was the only one. And now she has found a creature worse than her, a kindred spirit which she has let loose and now which wants to let loose more monsters. We cannot let that happen. We cannot let our mistakes destroy everything we have created. I know you are all tired and scared, but right now three friends of mine are risking their lives to collect something very important, something that will helps us stop the Dean and this demon. And we have a plan of sorts. We have a way to stop this monster. But we need your help, we can’t do this alone. So here’s the part where you make a choice.”  
Carmilla groans and rolls her eyes forever.


	74. That sound

Carmilla and Laura are leading at least a hundred students towards the mountain pass, the only way off the campus, when they hear a maniacal cackle and the demon in the Dean comes swooping down from above. The creature smashes through the crowd and cries of agony can be heard as it tears students apart.

It makes its way to the front of the group and hovers before Carmilla and Laura, clutching a bloody arm in one hand which it tosses away.

“Trying to sneak away are we?” The demon says and makes a tutting noise, “That might have worked better if you didn’t decide to come in such a deliciously large group. What did you hope to accomplish here? Escape? There is no escape. Every inch of this world will become mine. All you have done is given me more bodies for my ritual.” The creature smirks, “All you have done is sped up the process.” It turns to the crowd, “Now who would like to change the world?”

There’s a sound like a large gunshot and something comes hurtling towards the creature, though the creature can’t spot who fired the weapon. A bolas, a chain with heavy metal balls on either end, comes spinning at the demon and wraps around the Dean’s waste. The creature grunts and winces from the impact, but beyond that doesn’t seem particularly fazed by it.

It looks down at the metal and scowls, “Now what is this? Iron? Really? You hoped to weaken me with iron? Sure, it’ll weaken me, but that doesn’t make me weak. This is pitiful, it really is.”

                Something else is lobbed towards the demon, but misses and lands at the demons feet. The demon looks down at the strange device.

                “Now what? Is this going to explode?” The demon asks, “Really now…” There’s a beeping noise, a hum in the air, and then suddenly the demon is yanked down towards the device by the iron bolas around it. It even lets out a surprised yelp when it does so. Once it hits the ground some students rush around it, making ring after ring of salt, until the demon is surrounded by five thick rings.

                “We didn’t choose iron because it would weaken you. We chose it because its magnetic.” Laura says with a grin and LaFontaine steps forward holding a remote control.

                “This will not hold me for long.” The demon says and rips the metal bolas away from itself, throwing it out of the circle, “And neither will this.” It gestures towards the salt circles.

                Perry steps forward now and crouches down to place a hand on the outer salt ring. The ring glows slightly and there is a static quality to the air around them. She begins to chant, “Sacra spice defensionis ac protectione defendit . Accipiendo provocem carnem meam potentiam . Conforta bella…”

                “Oh no you don’t.” The demon hisses out and slams its fists against the earth, cracking the ground, and sending the salt spraying everywhere, breaking the circle. It then lunges for Perry, but Carmilla tackles her to the ground and the demon flies overhead. It laughs at them and sneers.

                “Did you think that would work? Honestly, did you think that would work?” The demon calls out, “Pathetic creatures. This world will burn.” It then flies towards the crowd, who tries to disperse, but some people don’t make it away in time and it grabs three people. It then floats above the crowd with the three bodies and says, “Thanks for the last ingredients children. I’ll see you all in hell.” It laughs and then flies off towards its summoning circle.

                Lafontaine rushes to Perry who is being helped to her feet by Carmilla.

                “Perry! Are you okay?” LaFontaine asks as they check her over.

                Perry nods as she brushes herself off, “I’m fine. We have to go, now.” She looks into the crowd, “Where are the spell casters?”

                Four people step forward and Carmilla says, “We have to get there. Now. Let’s go.” The spellcasters form a circle around them. They begin to chant and a glowing symbol appears below the four of them.

                Carmilla is already starting to feel dizzy, “God I hate teleportation.”  
                “I thought you could teleport?” LaFontaine asks.

                “Fine, I hate public teleportation.” Carmilla growls out and then the spell casters clap their hands together and there’s a white flash of light that surrounds them. A few moments later they appear in an equally blinding flash of light near the quad where the demon’s summoning circle is. The demon is floating near the circle, carving up the bodies and placing the pieces in precise locations. It looks up when it sees them arrive.

                “Come for the show I see?” The demons says while laughing, “Well it’ll be a good one.” The demon floats to the back of the circle, away from them and begins to place the last piece on the outside, “There we go. Now some ritual chanting. Some more blood spilled. And voila! Hell on Earth.”

                “You won’t get away with this!” Laura shouts, “We will stop you!”  
                The demon looks over at her and shakes its head, “How? How will you stop me? This is it kiddo. The game is over human Laura. I have completed the circle. I am here now, prepared with the ritual. How are you going to stop me?”

                Laura fires a taser at it and one of the prongs strikes the Dean’s shoulder. The electricity jolts through the demon and it winces slightly. It rips the prong out of its shoulder and snarls, “You impudent little flea. Are you just trying to annoy me!” It bellows, “This is useless, pathetic, and is now getting on my nerves.” It rushes forwards towards Laura , its eyes just for her, so it doesn’t see Perry crouching down near the bodies, her hand in the dirt. She begins to whisper to herself.

                The demon flies into the circle and comes racing towards Laura. For Laura’s part, she doesn’t even flinch as the demon slams into some invisible barrier, hissing and shrieking is it comes in contact with the far side of the circle.

                “What the hell?” The demon yells as it slams into the barrier again, “What is this?” It hisses out, its skin bubbling and sizzling where it touched the barrier, “What did you…” It looks over at Perry who is chanting on the ground.

                ”Nos protegat sacra asper amomum . Custodies hujuscemodi cultum daemonium obsisti , excepturum . Custodies hujuscemodi cultum daemonium retro . Formam habe tenebris . Formam habe tenebris . Formam habe tenebris .” She finishes and a bluish white light flashes around the circle once quickly. But she doesn’t remove her hand, energy still pumping through her into the circle.

                “NO!” It screams and drops towards the ground like before, cracking the earth and sending all the bodies and body parts flying in every direction. The group ducks as it all comes flying at them. When the bodies are removed they all see the massive salt ring that was underneath all the bodies, hidden beneath it. Except, that when the earth cracks and tilts, the salt doesn’t move. But LaFontaine does notice sweat beginning to form on Perry’s brow as she holds the salt in place.

                “NO!” It screams again and slams itself against the barrier, hissing once again as its flesh fries, “NO!” It slams its fists now and Perry winces at the contact.

                Hundreds of students begin to pour out of nearby buildings, Gwen and Kirsch being two of them.

                “This will not hold me forever. She cannot hold me forever.” The demon yells and slams into the barrier again.

                Perry whimpers and LaFontaine takes a step towards her.

                Her head whips up towards LaFontaine and LaFontaine feels their blood run cold when they look into her eyes. There is no emotion there. No warmth. No Perry.

                “Stay back.” Perry says, her voice cold and even and LaFontaine takes a step back.

                The demon slams into the barrier again and Perry cries out, but the salt circle holds.

                “You are weak, all of you. You shall grovel before me as I rule this Earth. You shall burn in hellfire and be eaten by hellhounds. Nothing can stop me. Not this, not you, not anyone. This is nothing. This barrier will fall. I will kill all of you. And then this world will burn.” The demon rants.

                There’s a crackling noise the group’s earpieces as the radio comes online and Danny’s voice can be heard, “I’m in position.”

                “You got this?” Carmilla asks.

                “Even with one arm, I’m still the best shot around.” Danny says and Carmilla can just barely see her on the far rooftop with a sniper rifle in position.

                “Don’t miss.” Carmilla says and her answer comes in the form of three quick shots that hit the Dean’s body in the back, all in the line down her spine. The demon recoils three times in quick succession before dropping to the ground in a heap.

                It slowly gets to its feet, looking somewhat disoriented, “What the hell was that?” It whips around to see Danny ducking down below the edge of the rooftop, “Did you just shoot me? With a sniper rifle? What good would that do? What good…” It trails off as it begins to falter, its body beginning to shake, “What did you…” It reaches its hand over its shoulder and behind its back and rips out the three darts and stares at them, “No.”

                “Yes.” Carmilla says, “Welcome to my world.”

                The demon’s eyes flash up towards hers’ and there is complete and utter rage there, “You wicked little thing. You conniving wicked thing. Oh your mother was right about you.  You scheming, murderous whore.”

                Carmilla looks utterly bored with the creature’s ranting and yawns loudly.

                The demon lunges for her, but before it can take two steps its whole body begins to convulse. It lets out a loud shrieking sound which continues for several seconds before the screaming splits into two voice, one the voice of the demon and the other the voice of the Dean. The screaming and convulsing continues for a while until it almost looks as if something is being pulled away from the Dean’s body. A second head appears for a split second, another arm, and then a leg, which all disappear after a moment back into the Dean. Like another entity inside the Dean’s body is being slowly ejected out. Which in reality, is kind of what is happening.

                Carmilla spots Mr. Smith approaching the circle with his soldiers and he raises an eyebrow at the sight before him.

                After several more minutes of screaming and thrashing there’s a sickening ripping noise and then the two forms are separated. The Dean’s body flops to the ground, not moving. The other figure appears to be a man in his late twenties with long shaggy hair and beard, and rags for clothes. He’s thin and gaunt looking, but his eyes scream of evil. He looks weak, but even in that state he still charges at Carmilla when he gets the chance. Laura fires another taser at him and this one hits its mark as well. She pulls the trigger and he begins to convulse again, this time from the electricity going through his system. He drops to the ground unconscious a moment later.

                They all stare at the sight before them in silence for several moments. No one knows what to say.

                “We did it.” Laura says finally and looks over at Carmilla with a wide smile, “We actually did it. Its over.”

                They then hear a choked noise and look over at Perry who has tears streaming down her face, but doesn’t seem to be registering any of that. The blank, distant look on her face is incredibly disconcerting.

                “Perr…” LaFontaine begins, “Perry? You can stop now. It’s over. We won. It’s over.”  They step forward and place a hand on Perry’s shoulder. Perry recoils from their touch and then looks up at them. She pulls her hand away from the circle and then her eyes roll up into her head as she collapses to the ground.

                “PERRY!” LaFontaine shouts as they rush to her side, catching her before her head hits the dirt.

                Laura and Carmilla come rushing over too, as do Gwen and Kirsch.

                “Is she okay?” Laura asks, “Is she…”

                “She’s alive.” LaFontaine chokes out, “But…I don’t know what all that magic did to her…I don’t know what she’ll be like when she…when she wakes up.” They hold Perry close to their chest and begin to whisper in her ear, “Please come back to me. Please be you. Please come back to me. Please be you.”

                “She’s dead.” They hear a voice say and look up to see a soldier crouched near the Dean’s body, where he was just checking her pulse. The other soldiers are putting the former demon into handcuffs and hauling him to his feet.

                Mr. Smith walks over to the group and says, “You did good work here. In the future, if you ever wanted to join our organization. We’d be more than happy to have you.”  
                Carmilla rolls her eyes and says, “In your dreams.”

                Mr. Smith smirks and just shakes his head, “Suit yourself. Our door is always open. He looks around at the destruction, the dead, everything, “We’ll…we’ll handle this clean up. We’ll contact all the deceased’s families and take care of all the funeral arrangements and all that. I think everyone here deserves a rest.”

                “Finally something we can agree on shades.” Carmilla says.

                Mr. Smith shakes his head again and then walks over to his soldiers holding the former demon, gesturing for them to take him towards the only working helicopter left.

                Carmilla turns back to Laura and takes her in her arms, wrapping them tightly around her waist. Laura does the same, until they are chest to chest, and staring into each other’s eyes.

                Laura feels an energy flow through her. She’s buzzing with the excitement of their victory and she can’t help, but smile up at her girlfriend. Carmilla is just enjoying the fact that she can wrap her girlfriend up in her arms again. That they finally have a moment together where they aren’t fighting monsters or rescuing friends or each other.

                “Can you believe we did it?” Laura asks, “Can you believe we won?”

                “Not really.” Carmilla says with a smirk and gets a light tap on the shoulder from Laura who laughs as well.

                “Carm, we won.” Laura repeats herself.

                “I know cupcake, you said that already.” Carmilla says.

                “I know, but…after everything, after all this…” Laura says, “Its just…so amazing to be okay. For both of us to be okay. Its so good to be here in your arms.” Laura leans her head against Carmilla’s chest, tucking herself under her chin, “I love you Carmilla Karnstein.”

                “I love you too Laura Hollis.” Carmilla replies.

                As they hold each other close, wrapped up in their own little world, they barely hear the sound of a dart gun fire. It’s not the loud bang of a regular gun, a sound that is distinct and sharp and reverberates through the skull at a close distance. It’s fainter than that, but not soft. It’s like a book being slammed down on a table. Loud enough to be heard for sure, but in the midst of all the noise and commotion going on around them, it’s easily overlooked.

                Carmilla jerks in Laura’s grip and lets out a grunt as if she’s been struck. Laura pulls away slightly from their embrace for a second, confused by what just happened.

                “Carm…what was…” She looks up at Carmilla’s face which has gone several shades paler and then begins to panic as Carmilla begins to slump in her arms, her eyes losing focus.

                “CARM!” She shrieks and everyone’s eyes are on her as she slowly lowers her collapsing girlfriend to the ground. LaFontaine looks torn between running towards Laura and holding their girlfriend. They look up at Kirsch who is  standing over them and he crouches down to take Perry in his arms as LaFontaine runs over to Laura and Carmilla. Gwen is already at their side.

                Gwen turns Carmilla over and gasps as she sees the dart, ripping it out of Carmilla’s back. Laura blanches and feels sick. Gwen hands the dart to LaFontaine who begins to examine it.

                They then suddenly hear a cruel laughter erupt from near the circle and Laura spots the Dean, lying halfway down, one arm holding her up, as she points a dart gun with the other. She drops the dart gun to her side and continues to laugh.

                Laura looks over at her, fury rising into her face as she clenches her fists, “What did you do? What the fuck did you do? Did you…did you give her the last dose?” She looks over at her girlfriend who is still conscious, but seems not all there.

                The Dean continues to laugh, even as several soldiers in black tackle her to the ground and wrestle the dart gun away from her.

                “No.” She manages to get out, “The last dose would have let her live. She would have survived that. And I couldn’t let her live. Not after all that’s she’s done to me.” The Dean smirks, “Did you know Miss Hollis, that there is a plant that grows in the Páramos of Venezuela that produces a unique substance, a substance so unique that there is nothing else like it on Earth. And only a dropper full of it is enough to kill a vampire.”

                Laura flashes back to last semester, remembering the same speech coming from their former Dean, Mr. Smith. She remembers what just a few milligrams of that substance had done to Carmilla when she had been hit by a dart. Then her heart drops into her stomach at the Dean’s next words.

                “And I gave her two droppers full.” The Dean says cackling before Mr. Smith walks over and punches her across the mouth.

                Laura looks at everyone, wide eyed and panicked. She looks down at Carmilla who appears to be fading fast.

                She looks at Mr. Smith, “There has to be something we can do. Is there an antidote? A cure? Something?”

                Mr. Smith looks at her stricken and shakes his head, unable to give her an answer.

                “What good are you then?” Laura hisses out and then turns to LaFontaine and Gwen, “Guys, please, come on, there has to be something. There has to be something. Please, please, please. LaF, tell me you have an idea. Gwen, you’re a chem major, tell me something.” She looks at them and they both are silent, staring at the ground, “NO!” She shouts, “No, no, no, no, no, no.” She says over and over again, tears streaming down her face now, “No, it can’t…it can’t end like this. NO! We won…we…won…we…won. It can’t end…not like this…not after…after everything…we can’t…no…she can’t leave me…not after…no, no, no.” She looks down at Carmilla who looks up at her with dull eyes, “Carm…” She sobs out.

                “Laura.” Carmilla says with a smile and then gives her a confused look, “Why are you crying?”

                Laura heaves out another sob and clutches Carmilla to her chest and then rests her head in her lap, “I’m just so in love with you…that’s why.”

                Carmilla nods as if this is a fine explanation and then says just as confused, “Cupcake…I…I can’t feel my legs…or….or arms…why…what’s happening to me? Why does…why does it hurt…” Her whole face contorts into pain and she gasps out, her body shaking and convulsing slightly.

                Laura begins to weep, her whole body wracked with sorrow, as she holds Carmilla close, “Carm…it’ll be okay, it’ll be okay, it’ll be okay.” Carmilla’s body is shaking still and she is letting out moans and whimpers. Laura holds her hand tight and kisses her softly on the lips, “It’ll be okay.” She says again to her, “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” This seems to relax Carmilla enough that she’s stopped shaking, though she still appears to be in pain.

                “Is the vampire scum dead yet!” The Dean yells from where she is being dragged away, laughing as she does so.

                Laura almost leaps to her feet, but with Carmilla in her arms she doesn’t want to leave. Instead she whips around to lock eyes with the Dean and says, “You are dead. Do you hear me!? I am going to kill you! I will go to prison for the rest of my life if I have to! But your blood will be on my hands!”

                Laura then spots Danny running over, gun strapped to her back.

                “What’s happening? What’s going on?” She shouts as she sprints up towards them and then sees the looks on everyone’s faces, “Oh no, what’s happened.” She spots Carmilla still slightly shaking on the ground in Laura’ s arms, “Karnstien? Carmilla?”

                Laura looks up at Danny, tears streaming down her face and then she spots something tucked into Danny’s belt. It’s a dart, filled with Phase 2.

                She blinks once. Then she doesn’t even think as she grabs the dart out of Danny’s belt, barely registering Danny’s cry of surprise. She spins around and slams the dart directly into Carmilla’s bicep.

                “What are you doing!?” LaFontaine and Gwen yell simultaneously as they reach for the dart, but it’s too late, it’s already in her arm, its already in her system.

                That doesn’t stop LaFontaine from pulling the dart out of Laura’s hand and tossing it away, “Are you insane? What’s the matter with you?”

                “My girlfriend is dying, that’s what’s the matter with me.” Laura barks out viciously and LaFontaine withdraws as if they wertr snapped at by a beast’s jaws and Laura continues, but isn’t looking at LaFontaine or the others as she speaks, she’s staring at Carmilla, “The toxin kills vampires. If she’s not a vampire, it won’t kill her.”

                “Laura…we don’t know if it’ll work like that…we don’t know what the combination of the two…I just don’t think this is…” LaFontaine says.

                “What?” Laura interrupts, “You don’t what? Think this is a good idea? It’s our _only idea_! It’s this or she dies. And I will not have her die. She cannot die on me. Do you hear me? She will not die!”

                Laura then looks back down at Carmilla, hoping to see some kind of change, some kind of sign that’s she’s okay. Carmilla lets out a shuddering breath and Laura feels the tears streaming down her face again. She flops down on top of Carmilla, her face against Carmilla’s chest, her body wracked with sobs again as nothing changes and she feels as if her girlfriend is continuing to slip away.

                She cries for what feels like hours, but in reality is only minutes, waiting and waiting and hoping that this isn’t the end, that she doesn’t lose her love right here and now after everything they had been through together.

                She waits and waits and feels Carmilla still, her body stop convulsing and quivering and Laura isn’t sure whether that’s good or bad. She’s afraid to lift her head, she’s afraid to look at her girlfriend’s face because if she’s gone, than looking at her face will make it real. And she doesn’t want it to be real. She wants a few more moments of this limbo, between knowing and not knowing because then there is still a chance her girlfriend is alive.

                After a few moments of waiting she scrunches her eyes closed and takes a deep breath, preparing herself for something she knows she’ll never be truly prepared for. She’s about to lift her head and open her eyes when she hears something. She freezes for a moment, stopping every sound she was making before, every sob, every sniffle, she even stops breathing. She holds her breath as she listens, with her ear pressed against her girlfriend’s chest. And then she hears it, soft at first, but growing in intensity as time goes on.  And after a few more seconds it becomes strong and steady and it’s the most beautiful sound in the world to her right now. She could right music from this sound, symphonies and operas and a pop song or two. She holds her ear to Carmilla’s chest and just listens to the sound, over and over again, smiling to herself.

                _Thud, thud._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, that was a long one wasn't it? But it's all over, for now. They'll probably be a short epilogue, maybe. I don't know if I'll continue this story line. I do enjoy writing it, but my master's program is swamping me with work, so I don't know if I'll have the time, we shall see. This story went on a bit longer than I intended it too. I think if I had written it all out at once, instead of spontaneously and erratically like I did I probably would have cut some sections out. But se la vie. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Have a nice day everyone.


	75. Epilogue

It has been seven days since Laura injected Phase 2 into Carmilla. One hundred and sixty eight hours. Ten thousand and eighty minutes. Six hundred four thousand and eight hundred seconds. Six hundred and four thousand eight hundred and one seconds.  
Laura watches the clock tick. The second hand creeping along. Each moment taking an agonizingly long time.  
It has been the longest week of Laura’s entire life. The longest, most stressful, most heartbreaking week. Because it has been seven days, two minutes, and thirty six seconds since Carmilla has opened her eyes.  
Laura is sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair, which is right up against the hospital bed where Carmilla has been lying for the past seven days, four minutes, and two seconds. The upper half of Laura’s body is slumped across the bed.  
Her back hurts, her neck hurts, her butt hurts, all her joints hurt, and somehow even her hair hurts. She didn’t realize that was a thing, but it’s a thing and it hurts.  
Everything hurts. Her eyes hurt, from being awake for too long, from crying, from staring with glassy eyes at the ever ticking clock while barely even blinking. Seven days, seven minutes, and eighteen seconds.  
Her fists hurt from where she punched the wall, repeatedly. She vaguely remembers two nurses, LaFontaine, and Danny pulling her away from the wall. If she had any humor left in her, she would remark about how it took four people to pull a five foot two girl away from a wall. But she didn’t say anything, the thought didn’t even make her smile.  
Her left hand was in a cast. She had broken several bones in it. Her right hand was just bandages. She’d managed to only bloody that one.  
They almost didn’t let her back into the room, but she apologized profusely and promised to pay for the damages. So they begrudgingly let her back in. She knows it’s because they saw how broken she was and for no other reason beyond that.  
Her head hurt. A combination of exhaustion and thinking too much for too long. Every thought in her brain right now trudges along, slow and painful, like its marching through mud to its destination. And every moment her eyes are open sends another pounding pulse through her skull. Its like a jackhammer going off behind her eyes. She still doesn’t close them.  
Seven days, fourteen minutes, and fifty seconds.  
She can’t remember the last time she slept, not fully. She knows she’s dozed on and off here and there, but a full nights rest has not come. On the second day, LaFontaine had tried to drag her out of the room and get her to sleep. When that didn’t work, they brought back a sleeping mat, pillow, and blanket, and placed them down on the floor of the room. They then forced Laura to lie down on them and stood over her until she closed her eyes. After an hour, they left and Laura hadn’t fallen asleep. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours, before finally getting up and returning to her position sitting in the uncomfortable chair, slumped across Carmilla’s bed. She hadn’t returned to the mat since.  
Laura had the passing thought that she hadn’t asked LaFontaine about how Perry was doing. She would ask they next time LaFontaine visited.  
Danny had suggested that Laura lie in the bed with Carmilla. Laura looked at her like it was the craziest thing she had ever said. She couldn’t lie in bed with Carmilla. She didn’t deserve to lie in bed with her, not after what she had done to her.  
So instead, she resigned herself to this position, clutching at Carmilla’s warm hand, running her fingers through her hair or down her face every once in a while. She would talk too, when she could.  
Seven days, twenty minutes, and one second.  
Her lungs and throat hurt, from talking, from sobbing, from screaming and wailing. There was the panic when Carmilla first didn’t wake up. The repeated no’s and the rambling. Then there was annoyance, she thought it was a joke. She had said things like, “This isn’t funny Carmilla. I can hear your heartbeat.” Or “if this is a joke, it isn’t a very good one.” But still nothing. Then there was questioning. Questioning Carmilla, her friends, herself, everything she had ever done, why she had done it, why she thought she could save her, what she had done to her. Over and over and over again in her head until she broke down crying.  
Then it was the begging. Once she had finished berating herself, hating herself, she began to beg Carmilla to wake up. Her pleading cries could probably be heard down the hospital hallways, but no one told her to keep it down. She begged and begged until once again, she dissolved into tears.  
Then it was anger. Screaming and thrashing and yelling at her friends, the doctors, nurses, herself, Carmilla, even the stupid yellow pillow that LaFontaine had brought for her. And then, she cried again. She was kind of sick of crying, but it felt like all she could do. She couldn’t stop herself.  
And then, it was just her and Carmilla talking. It was perhaps a very one sided conversation, but she just felt like talking. She couldn’t bear the silence of the room anymore. So she just talked and talked and talked about anything and everything. She spoke until her throat was raw and her lungs ached and her voice was hoarse. She continued on and on, hoping that the sound of her voice would draw Carmilla back, would cause her to wake up like it did in the movies. It did not.  
And now there was only silence. Seven days, twenty three minutes, and twenty two seconds. There was just Laura, lying there, staring at the clock and not saying anything, although her throat and lungs still reminded her of the past few days.  
Her ears hurt. The machinery in the room was loud. It wasn’t really loud, but in the dead silence that seemed to always fill hospitals in the middle of the night, it was deafening. The worst sound of all was the heart monitor. The steady beep that continued over and over again without stop. She never thought she’d hate a sound so much, especially one so intrinsically tied to her girlfriends life. But every beep of the monitor was another second passed where Carmilla wasn’t awake, another reminder that she may have doomed her girlfriend to a life of lying in this bed, unconscious. It was a sound that mocked her, taunted her, and it made her feel like she was going insane. In this small moments when she must have been sleeping she dreamed of bashing the monitor into bits. Of lifting it off the ground and slamming it against the wall, over, and over again. Sometimes she thought she had and feel satisfied as the sound finally stopped. But then she’d jerk awake and hear that dreaded noise again, knowing that the wonderful respite was only a dream.  
Seven days, twenty nine minutes, and eight seconds.  
Her stomach hurts. She’s tried to eat, she really has. Even if it’s just the cookies and grape soda that her friends have brought her, she’s tried to eat it. And slowly the supply of food they’ve brought has dwindled down, but it’s not enough. Her stomach still churns. She still feels sick. She still feels a wave of dread pass through her every time she looks at Carmilla lying there. She can’t get her stomach to calm. And food just makes her feel worse. She’s thrown up a few times, not because she was ill, at least not with a virus or anything, but because she just couldn’t stand anything. The whole situation, her life, Carmilla’s, where they were right now, where she had taken them. When she could down food, she would guzzle it down, eating and gorging on it like she hadn’t eaten in weeks. But those times were few and far between and for most of this week she has been left hungry, but not able to eat.  
Seven days, thirty four minutes, and forty nine seconds.  
But out of everything, out of every body part that aches and spasms and pains her. Out of every piece of her that reminds her that she’s sitting here, waiting for her girlfriend to wake up and dreading the thought that she may never, there is one piece that had not hurt in days. The first few days it was excruciating. There were moments, between the screaming and the silence and the gorging on food that the pain would rip through her, cracking her in two. She had been injured before; she had even been heartbroken before. But this, this was something new altogether. She felt like someone had thrust their hand straight through her sternum, breaking the bone into splinters to shred through her organs. She felt like this hand had plunged inside of her tearing away at muscle, connective tissue, arteries, veins, and everything in between, until it finally arrived at its prize. She felt like this hand had fumbled and scratched at her heart, as it tried to get purchase on it, fingers and nails sliding and scraping against it, sending waves of pain through her each time it missed. She felt like the hand finally grabbed it, wrapping cold, rough hands around her heart and then squeezed until the pain rocketed up her jaw and down her arm and to her very core. Until she doubled over, in unbearable pain, unable to stand, unable to move, barely even able to get a breath in. Everything hurt, from head to toe, but her heart, her heart it hurt the worst.  
Until about two days ago. She figures that’s when the hand finally ripped her heart out from her. That was finally when it decided to take it from her. Because about two days ago is when her heartache stopped. The rest of the pain remained, but where her heart used to be was nothing. She could barely feel it beat inside her chest. She just felt numb, like a hole had been cut inside her. Like there was a gaping wound where her heart should be. If she could feel anything right now, she might feel relief. But her heart was gone, so she could feel nothing.  
Seven days, thirty six minutes, and fourteen seconds.  
Carmilla stirred. Laura’s eyes flicked away from the clock and she stared at the distraught look on her girlfriend’s face. While normally Carmilla’s face was placid and her breathing even, every once in a while she would stir. Her face would contort into confusion or distress and her breath would hitch and her heart rate would go up. These moments were torturous too because they quickened Laura’s absent heart and set hope running through her, only to come crashing down around her as Carmilla would lie still once again.  
Laura’s heart beat quickened once again, but the hope wasn’t as forthcoming as it was before. She still felt it, in the back of her mind, but cynicism had won out and once Carmilla’s face stilled again, her eyes immediately flicked back to the clock to watch it tick her life away.  
Seven days, thirty eight minutes, and twelve seconds.  
“Cupcake?” A hoarse voice rasps out and Laura feels her heart skip and sputter to life inside her chest, like an old car threatening to start up on a cold winter morning. Her eyes, dry and aching, slowly turn towards the head of the bed. When she looks, her breath catches in her throat because there she is. There she is, with eyes half closed and slightly glassy from just waking up and a small smile playing across her lips. A part of Laura fears this is a dream again or a hallucination. That she’s finally lost it. But even if this isn’t real, she doesn’t care. She’d rather live in this delusion than reality anyway.  
Carmilla’s fingers squeeze tighter around Laura’s hand and although her grip is still weak, it’s the most reassuring and comforting feeling Laura’s ever felt.  
Carmilla finally focuses her eyes on Laura and Laura watches worry and concern move across her face. Laura has to wonder what she looks like right about now.  
“Laura? What’s wrong?” Carmilla rasps out, a little louder now, but still rough.  
“Ca…Ca…Ca…” Laura tries, but she can’t get her name out and it isn’t because of her sore throat and tired lungs.  
Carmilla attempts to sit up, to reach for her, but she’s tired and weak and human, and so she just manages to grunt a little bit and flop back down.  
“What the hell?” Carmilla says as she looks down at herself, trying to see any sign of why she feels so frail at this moment, but finding none. She looks back over at Laura, who still hasn’t managed to get her name out. Laura can feel the tears welling up in her eyes and her hands shaking as she reaches forward to touch Carmilla’s face.  
Carmilla gives her a look that’s both confused and a little scared. She doesn’t understand what’s happening. She doesn’t understand why Laura is behaving like this. But when Laura places one of her shaking hands on Carmilla’s face, Carmilla relaxes under her touch, not realizing how tense she had become.  
“Carmilla.” Laura finally says, her voice gruff and cracked and Carmilla can feel a new wave of concern and fear jolt through her.  
Carmilla manages to raise her arm and touch Laura’s face in return, “Cutie, Laura, you have to tell me what’s going on. What happened? Are you okay?”  
Laura almost doesn’t hear her as she stares into Carmilla’s face, just watching it move, just watching the corner of her eyes crinkle, her lips moving, just taking it all in.  
“What?” Laura says after a moment, realizing Carmilla had just spoken to her, “What?”  
Carmilla sighs and says gruffly, her voice still hoarse from disuse, “Tell me what’s going on.”  
“Right, right.” Laura says and clears her throat, but that barely helps. She then realizes Carmilla’s throat is probably hurting even worse than hers. She suddenly lurches to her feet and takes a stumbling step towards the tray table that was pushed off to the side, where a cup of water was sitting. She took a few more steps, her legs filled with pins and needles, and instantly regretted standing up.  
Everything from the past week came rushing at her all at once. Her lack of sleep, the fact that she hadn’t eaten, the fact that she had ricocheted from emotion to emotion, that fact that she’d been sitting in that chair for hours without moving. It all came crashing down on her and the room spun, a darkness around the edges of her vision creeped in, and she felt her legs turn to jelly.  
She was moments away from passing out when she felt a firm hand on her upper arm. It was like a tether, a lifeline, something that grounded her to the world and kept her from falling away. She turned back towards the bed and saw that despite being unconscious for a week and looking utterly exhausted, Carmilla had managed to jerk up into a sitting position and hold Laura steady. Laura felt tears in her eyes once again.  
“Laura, sit back down. You don’t seem well. Where are you even going?” Carmilla asks.  
“I was…going…going to get you water.” Laura chokes out, “For your…throat.” She moves back towards the tray table, but Carmilla’s firm grip on her arm holds her in place and then she feels Carmilla tugging her back towards her.  
“I’m okay, sweetheart.” Carmilla says and leads Laura towards the bed as she lies back down. Laura hesitates at the edge of the bed, but Carmilla smiles up at her and removes her hand from Laura’s arm to pat the area next to her, “Lay with me for a bit. You look like you need it.”  
Laura then lies down next to Carmilla, has Carmilla moves over to give her room. Carmilla wraps and arm around her and Laura clutches against Carmilla like she’s afraid she’ll disappear if she lets go.  
They lay like that for several moments before Carmilla makes an annoyed sound and Laura looks up at her confused, “Are you okay? Is your throat? Do you want me to get you some water? Or is it something else? Should I call the nurse?” Laura is about ready to get up, but Carmilla shakes her head.  
“No, no, it’s not that.” Carmilla says with a scowl, “It’s that infernal beeping noise that keeps going off. How is anyone supposed to rest with that sound constantly assaulting our eardrums. What the hell is that?”  
Laura looks at Carmilla slightly startled and says, “Carm…it’s the…it’s the heart monitor.”  
“Heart monitor?” Carmilla repeats as if the words are gibberish to her.  
“Yes, heart monitor.” Laura says.  
Carmilla looks Laura up and down, searching for something, “Why are you wearing a heart monitor? Is everything okay?”  
Laura laughs a little and then realizes Carmilla is serious, “It’s not my heart monitor Carm…it’s…it’s yours.”  
“Mine?” Camrilla scoffs, “Mine? Mine. What?” She looks at Laura confused and then pauses, her eyes going wide. Her hand not wrapped around Laura leaps up towards her chest and she presses her hand over her heart.  
Laura places her own hand over Carmilla’s and looks up at her nervously, “You’re…you’re human now.”  
Carmilla eyes widen even further, if that were possible and she says, “How? What happened?”  
Laura nervously fiddles with the strings on Carmilla’s hospital gown and then asks, “What’s the last thing you remember?”  
Carmilla thinks for a moment, her brow furrowing, and then she says, “The demon was caught, the Dean was dead, and we were kissing. The nothing.”  
“The Dean wasn’t dead.” Laura says.  
“What?” Carmilla asks.  
“She wasn’t dead.” Laura says and then she goes on to explain everything that had happened with the toxin, the Dean, Danny coming over with Phase 2, and Laura’s decision. And all the while she’s telling this, tears are forming in her eyes again and her voice is becoming more and more choked. When she finally gets to the end she says, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry that I did this to you. I just…just the…just the thought of losing you…I couldn’t…I couldn’t bear it and I’d already lost you once and that was hard enough and you were dying…right in my arms, and there was this sliver of hope. And it was selfish and stupid and I shouldn’t have done it. And I’m so sorry. So, so sorry. And I can’t tell you how…”  
Carmilla places a finger on Laura’s lips to silence her and says, “I know you’re sorry.” Laura lowers her eyes and her head dips down, not wanting to look at Carmilla’s face. Carmilla moves her finger away from her lips and places that hand under Laura’s chin, “Look at me Cupcake.” She lifts Laura’s chin and Laura is surprised to find a kind smile on Carmilla face when she looks at her.  
“Perhaps what you did was selfish and stupid, but I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same.” Carmilla says with a wry smile, “And you did the right thing, you did what I would have…do want. I’d rather live a human life with you, then no life at all.”  
“But…but you seemed so against being human.” Laura says, “You…you didn’t want Phase 2 or anything.”  
“That was because it was an experimental drug that was forced upon me and there was no guarantee I would survive it.” Carmilla says, “But I guess now we know.” She adds with a smirk.  
“If…if Phase 2 had been offered, like on a voluntary basis…would you…would you have taken it?” Laura asks nervously.  
Carmilla thinks for a moment and shrugs slightly, “I don’t know.” She says honestly, “There are perks to being a vampire, no doubt about that. But the thought of not growing old with you...of eventually living without you…I….I don’t think I could do that.”  
Laura nods and swallows loudly, “Okay. But you’re not…not mad?”  
Carmilla kisses Laura’s forehead and then says, “No, I’m not mad.”  
And with that, the longest week of Laura’s life is done. Seven days, one hour, eleven minutes, and two seconds and it’s over, it’s finally over. 

 

It took Carmilla a week to wake up. It takes Perry a bit longer to recover from her ordeal, though she is conscious. It takes her a month to go back to her normal, Perry self. And Laura thought a week was long, she couldn’t imagine how LaFontaine was feeling.  
For the first week, while Carmilla was unconscious, Perry was cold and distant. She barely spoke to any of them, including LaFontaine. She slept in her bed alone, forcing LaFontaine to sleep on their couch. She made dinner only for herself. And anything she did, was only for herself. She never even asked how either Laura or Carmilla were doing.  
LaFontaine had tried to engage her in conversation, to talk about anything and everything, but Perry would just sit there, knitting quietly to herself, not saying a word.  
Sometime in the next week she began to speak to LaFontaine again. Their conversation were short and terse and sometimes the things that came out of Perry’s mouth were harsh, even cruel. She refused to use LaFontaine’s preferred pronouns and continued to call them Susan, when she even spoke her name. She almost seemed to take pleasure from watching LaFontaine flinch every time she addressed them. She still didn’t speak to the others.  
As time passed their conversations grew longer and longer and it went beyond just simple necessities of speaking with a roommate. They discussed the state of the campus, their friends, and even their relationship. Perry didn’t seem to think they were still together. She even said, “Oh, I meant to break up with you last week. I thought I’d already done that. Must have slipped my mind.” Like she had forgotten to take out the garbage or something. LaFontaine had spent that night and the two following it in Laura and Carmilla’s room, sobbing their eyes out.  
A little after that Perry came knocking on Laura and Carmilla’s door and seemed confused by the fact that LaFontaine was staying with them. When LaFontaine had reminded her that she had broken up with them, Perry laughed and said, “I was obviously joking. It was a joke. I would never break up with you LaFontaine.” It only made them feel slightly better and they moved back in. LaFontaine however did note that before Perry and they left, Perry asked how Carmilla was doing. Something she hadn’t done in nearly three weeks. While she didn’t seem too much care for the answer, LaFontaine felt it was a step in the right direction.  
A little after that Perry began to ask about LaFontaine and their day more and more. She even asked about what LaFontaine was working on. They began to speak with one another almost like they used it. It wasn’t quite the same, there was still a coldness to Perry, still a disconnect, like she was slowly gaining her empathy back, but it wasn’t all there. But LaFontaine did note that she was using their preferred pronouns again.  
Then the frenzied energy came back. Perry hadn’t been her usual ball of nerves, acting like nothing bothered her, like she didn’t care about anything. Then one morning LaFontaine woke up to Perry racing around the room, cleaning everything in sight and practically tearing her hair out as she muttered about how dirty everything had become. It was a sight for sore eyes.  
That same night, Perry made dinner and she made it for both of them. LaFontaine nearly cried and Perry comforted them, albeit awkwardly.  
Two days later and Perry was nearly back to her normal self. She burst into Laura and Carmilla’s room and began apologizing profusely for her behavior for the past month. She brought brownies and cleaned their room as an apology and then began to fuss over both of them, asking over and over again how Carmilla was adjusting to being human.  
Carmilla muttered something about, “Not missing this.” But everyone knew she was lying by the ways he looked fondly at Perry.  
The next day, Perry lay down in bed and then sat bolt upright. She looked over at where LaFontaine was settling in on the couch and asked, “What are you doing?”  
LaFontaine looked over at her confused and said, “Going to sleep?”  
“Over there?” Perry asked.  
“….Yes.” LaFotnaine responded.  
Perry smiled and patted the bed next to her, “I will not stand for you sleeping on the couch any longer. Please get over here immediately LaFontaine.”  
LaFontaine did a little happy dance and then practically skipped over to their bed. They leapt onto the bed and reveled in Perry’s shriek as the bed bounced.  
“Was that necessary?” Perry asked, trying to be annoyed, but failing.  
LaFontaine smirked at her and said, “Very.”  
Perry then pecked LaFontaine on the lips and said, “I love you.” She began to turn over to go to sleep, but LaFontaine grabbed her arm.  
“Wait.” LaFontaine said and Perry looked over at them, “You have something…” They gestured towards her face.  
“What?” Perry asked concerned, “What is it?”  
“You have something on your face, right here.” LaFontaine said, pointing to her lips.  
Perry reached her hand up, trying to find it, “What? Is it leftover from dinner? What do I have on my face?”  
LaFontaine smirks and leans forward, placing a passionate kiss on Perry’s lips. Perry was startled for a moment and then melted into it. They kissed for a while before LaFontaine pulled away and said, “It was me, by the way. I was on your lips.”  
“I figured as much.” Perry replied with a smile.  
“I love you.” LaFontaine said and added, “I’ve missed you.”  
Perry looked down at her fidgeting hands nervously and then looked back up into LaFontaine’s understanding eyes, “And I am so very sorry LaFontaine, for everything.”  
“You don’t need to be sorry.” LaFontaine said.  
“I do. I really, really do. I said some very horrible things to you and I hope…I want you to know that I didn’t mean any of it. That wasn’t…it wasn’t me.” Perry said.  
“I know.” LaFontaine said and kissed Perry quickly, before pulling back, “You don’t have to explain. I understand.”  
“But I feel so bad, about all the things I said and did to you.” Perry said.  
“You don’t have to.” LaFontaine said and then smirked, “But if you still do, you could always make it up to me.” They then wiggle their eyebrows.  
Perry slapped them on the arm and said, “LaFontaine! Are you being suggestive with me.” But a smile is creeping its way onto her face.  
“Maybe.” LaFontaine said laughing, “But I mean, come on, its been over a month now. When was the last time we waited a month.”  
Perry seems to think for a moment and then said, “That is a very good point. Not even the time I was mad at you for destroyed my hummel collection.” She then dives towards LaFontaine and kisses them eagerly. LaFontaine barely has time to gather themselves before Perry is on top of them.  
“I love you.” LaFontaine says again when they finally get a breath.  
“I love you too.” Perry says and kisses them again.  
It’s a very good night for the both of them. 

 

There’s a clicking noise, some static and suddenly a screen comes to life. Laura is sitting behind her camera once again with smile on her face, with Carmilla lounging in the background. They’re back in their dorm room.  
“Hello everyone!” Laura says and Carmilla looks up from the books she’s reading in the background. She rolls her eyes, but puts the book down and then languidly gets to her feet and walks over. Laura turns her chair around and watches her saunter her way into the seat next to her. Despite being human, Carmilla is as graceful as ever and Laura has to wonder if she’s just naturally like that.  
“So, we’re doing this again now.” Carmilla comments.  
Laura nods enthusiastically and turns back to camera, “I know its been forever everyone since the last time I made one of these videos. Not since last semester which feels like a lifetime ago, believe me. But I figured since we’re in a supernatural lull at the moment, this would be the perfect time to get back into it.”  
“The fact that nothing is currently trying to kill us is the perfect time to do anything, but this.” Carmilla comments and then leans in closer, giving Laura a seductive look.  
Laura’s breath hitches in her throat and she loses focus for a few moments before gaining it back to turn back to the camera, her cheeks flushed red. Carmilla smiles triumphantly.  
“Um…well…right, what was I saying?” Laura asks and then continues, “Oh right, getting back into this. This semester has been…eventful to say the least and very traumatic for many. I know that things are still on the mend between supernatural and human students, but I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in the past few weeks.”  
“Especially without a seditious voice in our heads.” Carmilla adds and Laura nods in agreement.  
“Without the Dean, things may not have gone back to normal, but I think we’re looking at what happened and realizing that our actions were misguided and we all went too, too far. We have issues, not doubt about that, but I think we’re handling them much better now. It’s a work in progress, we know that. This is never going to be easy, it’s always going to be a struggle. But we need to work together to make things better for everyone. One thing I think we’ve learned from all this is that Silas students are resilient, especially when we work together. That is when we are at our best, side by side.” Laura says and then her face turns more glum, “And for all those we lost this semester, on both sides, we grieve for you, we mourn for you, we feel your loss in everything we do. There is a shadow cast across this campus, a shadow that you can see creeping into every corner and every aspect of what we do here. You can see it in all our faces and feel it in all our hearts. So, so many of you are gone. So, so many of you will never get to see your families again, never get to be with your friends and loved ones. And we are sorry for that. I am sorry for that. Sorry beyond words, beyond measure. You should not be gone, you should be here. What happened to you was not fair or right. I would like to think you all did not die in vain, for we won. We defeated the Dean and the demon that destroyed this campus. They are no longer a threat, no longer out there harming others. But I can imagine many of you wouldn’t care about all that. That doesn’t mean a damn thing and I understand that. I would like to think that the fact that we’re working together once again might mean something, but we all know that it is too little, too late for those who are gone. But we are learning from our mistakes. We have learned our lesson and it was a hard won lesson. A lesson with too great a cost. So wherever you are out there, whatever after life you believe in, I hope you are happy and whole and find yourself in a better place than here. We will miss all of you.”  
“’Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.’” Carmilla says solemnly and then adds, “And we will not forget them, we will not forget you.”  
Laura nods in agreement and then turns back to the camera, “Now onto some business.” She clears her throat, “The semester is over. Finals have been cancelled, due to the fact that the Dean and most of administration have been arrested and taken in and most of the teachers are either dead or have fled the campus. That means we can all go home. I know that the mountain pass can be tricky this time of year, so the organization running this campus has be kind enough to help us evacuate the campus. So, if you see large black military style helicopters flying in, please do not be alarm…and do not shoot them down. They are here to assist us…I hope.”  
“Way to be reassuring, Creampuff.” Carmilla says with a chuckle.  
Laura ignores her and continues, “They’re evacuating us in waves. Anyone whose last name ends in A-F, you are being brought off campus tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. You are allowed to bring one bag with you that weighs less than fifty pounds. Anything else that you own, and I know that you all may have a lot, should be packed up and brought to the quad. You should put your name on all the boxes and everything and place them in their designated alphabetical location. There are carts and bins located around campus to help move larger items and the Zetas, the Summers, and anyone dressed in a black uniform are out there to help you move your belongings. There is an information desk in the quad where you can check in and they can direct you to the proper location. All your items will be returned to you within the next thirty days. Tomorrow morning, please meet near the main corridor and the library where the helicopters are located and check in with those there. Please listen to the people there directing you and follow all safety guidelines. Same rules apply for everyone being evacuated afterwards. The schedule is posted on the school’s website, but I will also be reading it off here. G-K will be evacuated at 6 pm tomorrow. L-P will be evacuated 8 am the day after tomorrow. Q-U will be evacuated the day after tomorrow at 6 pm. V-Z will be evacuated the day after that, at 8 am. Mr. Smith, our former Dean is heading this endeavor, so if you have more specific questions ask him.”  
“And behave.” Carmilla snarls out, “No fights, no arguments, no anything or the organization will not hesitate in leaving your ass behind.”  
Laura shakes her head, “They won’t really leave you behind…I don’t think.”  
‘I would.” Carmilla says with a shrug.  
“Right anyway.” Laura says, “I don’t know what is in store for this school or for us. I’ve heard rumor that they’re closing the school. After everything that has happened here, all the loss of life, all the destruction, I’m not really sure I can blame them. Although, so much has happened here. Both good and bad. And…I mean sure, we’ve been fighting for our life more times than I can count, but this place holds so much of who I am, that I can’t imagine it not being here next semester. I can’t imagine not coming back here.”  
“You are crazy, Cupcake, you know that.” Carmilla says laughing.  
“Oh come on Carm, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t miss this place.” Laura says, nudging her with her shoulder.  
‘I wouldn’t miss this place.” Carmilla says.  
“But there are so many memories here. I mean, this is where I first started making videos. This is where I first met all my friends who I care for so dearly. This is where I learned about the supernatural world and the wonders that belong to it.” Laura says.  
“This is where your roommate got kidnapped. Where Gwen’s roommate got murdered. Where Danny lost her arm. Where we killed my mother. Where we watched so many die.” Carmilla says, “Where I first heard that stupid song Cheerleader that won’t get out of my damn head.” She slams her hand down on the desk for emphasis.  
“This is where you first kicked in the door and said, ‘Carmilla, I’m your new roommate, sweetheart.” Laura says, “Where you first flirted with me.”  
“Where you first tied me up.” Carmilla says waggling her eyebrows and Laura rolls her eyes.  
“Where we first danced.” Laura says, “Where we first kissed. Where we first…you know.” Laura blushes.  
“Made love.” Carmilla says and brushes her hand through Laura’s hair. Laura blushes further.  
“Yeah.” She squeaks out and then clears her throat, “We had all our firsts here Carmilla. And well, this is where I fell in love with you.”  
“This is where I fell in love with you.” Carmilla replies.  
“So I guess, with all of that, it’s hard to imagine it gone.” Laura says.  
“I guess I can see the appeal.” Carmilla says with a smile and Laura gives her a peck on the cheek. She then turns back to the camera.  
“So, that’s pretty much all I have. Carmilla and I and the others have opted to head out with the last group so we can help everyone out.”  
“You opted for that, I had no choice.” Carmilla says.  
“Don’t pretend like it wasn’t your idea.” Laura says with a smirk and Carmilla actually blushes, “You can’t pretend you’re all disaffected and apathetic anymore, not after this semester.”  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Carmilla says, looking away.  
Laura punches her in the arm playfully and Carmilla pretends to be wounded, “Oh, ow, watch yourself now Creampuff, I’m all human and fragile now.”  
“Oh shut up.” Laura says and then turns back to the camera, “So, goodbye everyone. Have a great break. I’ll maybe see you next year. This is Laura Hollis, signing off for maybe the last time.” Laura turns the camera off and turns to Carmilla.  
Carmilla smiles seductively, “So now that you’re done with that and we have some time to ourselves, what should we do?”  
Laura leans in towards her and says, “I have some ideas.”  
“Oh, do you now.” Carmilla says, leaning in as well, “I think I’d like to hear those ideas.”  
“Well, it’s more a show than tell kind of thing.” Laura says and kisses Carmilla, their lips connecting and a spark going through both of them. She pulls away and hears Carmilla whimper slightly, “Do you catch my meaning?”  
“Oh, I really do.” Carmilla says and pulls Laura from the chair. She captures Laura’s lips in her own as she pushes Laura towards her bed. She pulls away now and says, “I love you Laura Hollis.”  
“I love you too Carmilla Karnstein.” Laura replies slightly breathless.  
“And fortunately, we have all this time together where I can show you how much I love you.” Carmilla says smiling, “It’s nice to have some peace, just the two of us. So that we can…not be peaceful.” She smirks.  
“And that’s all that matters right.” Laura says and kisses Carmilla in between speaking, “Just you and me.”  
Carmilla kisses Laura and then says, “Just you and me, Creampuff.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright folks, that's it. That's finally the end of this piece. Sorry about the wait, I've been just so busy with my master's program that I haven't had time.  
> But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it. Like I said before, I don't know if I'll continue this story. I have some ideas, but I think I'd like to try something new first. Whatever that may be, before continuing. But I have no idea what that will be at this point.  
> Thank you for reading and all your wonderful comments. I greatly appreciate all of them. Have a lovely day everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter: @TheSnarkyDruid


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